THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


IN  MEMORY  OF 

PROFESSOR 
EUGENE  I.  McCORMAC 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  CRUZ 


THOMAS  COLLIER  PLATT 

II 


The  Autobiography 


OF 


Thomas  Collier  Platt 


With  Twenty  Portraits 
in  Sepia  Photogravure 


COMPILED   AND    EDITED 
BY 

LOUIS   J.  LANG 

WITH    ADDENDA 


NEW  YORK 

B.    W.    DODGE   &   COMPANY 

1910 


Copyrighted  1910,  by 
WILLIAM   RICKEY 


(All  rights  reserved) 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


P7 


DEDICATED   TO   MY 

"OLD   GUARD" 


August  2,  1909. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN  : 

I  hereby  certify  that  this  book  of  memoirs  is 

compiled  and  edited  by  Mr.  Louis  J.  Lang,  with 

my  consent  and  approval,  and  I  grant  to  him 

the  exclusive  right  to  arrange  for  its  publication. 

Very  truly  yours, 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

1833-1853 
Ancestry— Boyhood — Yale  Student — Druggist—Marriage. 

CHAPTER   II 

1853-1860 

I  Begin  my  Political  Career  as  a  Warbler — Lead  Fremont  Glee 
Club— Songs  it  Sang — First  Office— Writer  of  Advertise- 
ments— Editor  and  Poet. 

CHAPTER    III 

1860-1873 

I  Help  to  Elect  Lincoln — Join  Conkling  and  Arthur  in  Ele- 
vating Grant  to  the  Presidency — Nominated  but  Refuse 
Congressional  Honors — Renominated  and  Elected— Become 
Conkling's  Lieutenant,  and  Aid  in  Building  Up  the  New 
York  Organization. 

CHAPTER   IV 

1873-1879 

Enlist  in  the  Congressional  Fight  for  Specie-Payment  Resump- 
tion and  other  Grant  Legislation — I  Espouse  Conkling's 
Candidacy  for  President,  but  Hayes  is  Nominated — Sup- 
port Hayes  against  Tilden  in  Electoral  Commission  Con- 
test— First  Important  Speech  in  the  House — Unite  with 
Conkling  in  Revolt  against  Hayes— President  Tries  to  Dis- 
rupt the  Party — I  Excoriate  Hayes  at  Rochester  Conven- 
tion— Hayes-Curtis  Faction  Beaten — I  Become  a  Member 
of  the  First  "Big  Four" — Aid  in  Nomination  and  Election 
of  Cornell  for  Governor — My  First  State  Office. 

CHAPTER   V 

1879-1880 

Get  In  behind  Grant  for  a  Third  Term— Conkling's  "Appo- 
mattox  Apple  Tree"  Speech  Nominating  Grant — Garfield 
Wins  after  Sensational  Struggle — Sherman,  the  Icicle — My 
Brothers,  the  "306"— How  Death  Has  Mown  Down  All  but 
Seven — A  Eulogy  for  the  Heroes. 

ix 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


CHAPTER  VI 

1880-1881 

Conkling  Declines  to  Aid  Garfteld — He  and  Grant  Take  the 
Field  When  I  Exact  Pledges  from  the  Candidate— Garfield 
Elected — His  Written  Thanks  for  My  Services. 

CHAPTER   VII 

1881-1882 

Initial  Election  to  the  U.  S.  Senate — Garfield  Repudiates  His 
Promises  to  Me— Conkling  and  I  Resign— We  Appeal  to  the 
Legislature — Both  Defeated  for  Reelection — Genesis  of  the 
Stalwart-Half-Breed  Imbroglio— Garfield  Assassinated— 
Arthur  President — Lives  of  Arthur,  Conkling  and  Myself 
Threatened. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

1882-1884 

Am  Instrumental  in  Choosing  Folger  for  Governor — Origin  and 
History  of  the  Famous  "Forged  Telegram"— Half-breeds 
Knife  and  Defeat  Folger— Conkling  Quits  Politics  and  Sur- 
renders the  Titular  Leadership  to  Me— I  Rehabilitate  the 
Machine  and  Elect  the  State  Ticket. 

CHAPTER   IX 

1884-1887 

I  Disown  Arthur  for  Following  Garfield's  Practices — Advocate 
Elaine's  Nomination  for  the  Presidency — Oppose  Roosevelt, 
Curtis,  et  aL,  Who  Favor  Edmunds — Blaine  Nominated — 
Mugwumps  Massacre  Him — Cleveland  President — Esti- 
mates of  Arthur  and  Blaine. 

CHAPTER   X 

1887-1888 

I  Join  in  Electing  Hiscock  U.  S.  Senator — Remarkable  and 
Unprecedented  Feat  of  Swinging  the  Entire  Morton  Pha- 
lanx to  Hiscock  to  Defeat  Miller. 

CHAPTER  XI 

1888 

I  am  Removed  by  Governor  Hill  from  the  Quarantine  Commis- 
sionership — The  Trial  a  Farce — Acrimonious  Correspon- 
dence with  the  Judge  Who  Presided — My  Friends  Cause 
His  Permanent  Retirement  from  the  Bench. 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


CHAPTER   XII 

1888-1891 

My  Part  in  the  National  Convention  of  1888 — How  We  Nom- 
inated Harrison  for  President — Quay  and  I  Carry  New 
York  for  Him— The  Promised  Secretaryship  of  the  Treas- 
ury Refused  Me — The  Spanish  Mission  Offered  and  De- 
clined— I  Nominate  Fassett  for  Governor — Flower  Wins — 
New  Plans  for  My  Burial — Advice  to  Young  Men  to  be 
Active  in  Politics. 

CHAPTER   XIII 

1891-1899 

Tammany  Corruption  Compels  Me  to  Direct  Three  Legislative 
Inquiries — Startling  Disclosures  of  New  York  City  Malad- 
ministration by  the  Fassett,  Lexow  and  Mazet  Committees 
— Laws  Enacted  to  Correct  the  Abuses  Revealed. 

CHAPTER   XIV 

1892-1893 

Harrison  Provokes  Quarrels  with  Reed,  Quay,  McKinley,  Myself 
and  Other  Influential  Republicans — Appoints  Our  Enemies 
to  Office — Retaliatory  Opposition  to  His  Renomination — 
We  Put  Elaine  against  Him — Harrison  Renamed,  but  Badly 
Defeated  by  Cleveland — Sketch  of  Harrison. 

CHAPTER   XV 

1893-1894 

Reconstruction  of  the  Party  in  New  York  after  Bitter  Fac- 
tional Battle — Ante-nomination  Pledges  of  Mayor  Strong 
and  How  He  Deliberately  Broke  Them — My  Differences 
with  Whitelaw  Reid— His  Attacks  and  My  Roland  for  His 
Oliver — McKinley  Heeds  My  Protest  against  Reid's  Going 
to  the  Court  of  St.  James's. 

CHAPTER   XVI 

1894-1897 

I  Choose  Morton  for  Governor,  and  He  is  Elected — Creation  of 
the  Greater  New  York  and  Framing  of  Great  Excise  and 
Election  Measures — Morton-McKinley  Contest  for  the  Pres- 
idency— The  Gold  Plank  Controversy  and  How  I  Won  it- 
Why  I  Refused  a  Nomination  for  Governor  and  Named 
Black. 

xi 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

CHAPTER   XVII 

1897-1898 

Am  Reflected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate — How  I  Defeated  Choate — 
Catlin-Storrs  Dispute  Over  My  Candidacy— My  Speech  of 
Acceptance— Why  Tracy  Was  Nominated  for  Mayor  of 
New  York — My  Opinion  of  Low  and  the  Citizens'  Union. 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

1898-1900 

I  Nominate  Roosevelt  for  Governor — Seeks  to  Withdraw,  but 
Agrees  to  Stick  when  I  Ask  Him:  "Is  the  Hero  of  San 
Juan  a  Coward?" — Elected — Roosevelt  Consults  with  Me, 
but  Does  as  He  Pleases — Controversy  Over  Franchise  Tax 
and  Other  Propositions  at  Albany. 

CHAPTER   XIX 

1900-1901 

How  and  Why  I  Nominated  Roosevelt  for  Vice-President — 
Promoted,  Not  Shelved— Murder  of  McKinley— Roosevelt 
President— Strives  to  Carry  Out  McKinley  Policies — Esti- 
mate of  the  Martyred  President. 

CHAPTER  XX 

1901 

Low's  Nomination  for  Mayor,  and  How  it  was  Engineered — 
He  Fails  to  Turn  the  Tammany  Rascals  Out — Their  Reten- 
tion and  Alliance  with  Mugwumps  Drive  Him  from  Office. 

CHAPTER  XXI 

1901-1906 

How  I  Made  Odell  Governor — At  Odds  with  Him  about  Ap- 
pointments and  Legislation — The  Governor  Plays  for  the 
State  Leadership — Defeats  Sheldon  for  Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor and  Names  Higgins — Barely  Reelected — Forces  Reor- 
ganization of  the  Party  and  Lops  off  Heads  of  My  Friends 
— I  am  Reelected  to  the  Senate — Dispute  with  Odell  Over 
Ousting  State  Chairman  Dunn — Roosevelt  and  Fairbanks 
Nominated — Higgins  Beats  Woodruff — My  Final  National 
and  State  Contests — Who  and  What  Hughes  is. 

xii 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Laws  Promoted  and  Enacted  at  Albany — Excise  and  Election 
Reform  Statutes  Approved  by  My  Direction — Testimony  of 
Raines,  Kelsey,  Barnes  and  Others  as  to  the  Wisdom  of 
the  Attitude  I  Assumed — Liquor  Tax  Law  Put  Through 
Despite  a  Seventy  Thousand  Dollar  Bribery  Fund. 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  "Amen  Corner" — The  Hallowed  Spot  in  which  Presidents, 
Governors  and  Other  Men  of  Note  Were  Chosen — The 
Trysting  Place  where  Leaders  of  All  Parties  Swapped 
Political  Yarns  and  Decided  the  Destinies  of  the  Nation 
and  State— Dignitaries  Who  Have  Sat  and  Counseled 
There — Pathetic  Farewell  Ceremonies. 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

Clarkson's  Review  of  My  Stewardship — "Legislation  Made 
Better  and  More  Progressive" — "Four  Great  Governors" — 
I  Nursed  No  Revenge,  but  Erred  on  the  Side  of  Forgiving 
Enmity  or  Wrong. 

CHAPTER   XXV 

Making  of  Faithful  and  Unmaking  of  Disloyal  Organization 
Men — List  of  the  Devoted  Rewarded  and  Instances  of  Dis- 
cipline Administered  to  the  Insubordinate — Fassett,  Brook- 
field,  Worth  and  Others  Punished  for  Mutiny— Rules 
which  Must  Be  Enforced  to  Maintain  a  Successful  Party 
and  Machine— "God  Bless  Thomas  Collier  Platt!  "—Finis. 

ADDENDA 

Platt  President  Maker  and  Financier— Provocation  for  Issue 
of  His  Memoirs  Due  to  Quarrel  with  Odell — How  He 
Acquired  the  "Easy  Boss"  Title — The  First  Federal  Job 
He  Got  for  Roosevelt  and  How  a  $60,000  Campaign  Con- 
tribution Made  the  Rough  Rider  Governor — Home  Life — 
Development  of  the  United  States  Express  Company  from 
a  Pigmy  to  a  Giant. 

xiii 


LIST  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS 

PAGE 

THOMAS  COLLIER  PLATT Frontispiece 

MRS.  THOMAS  C.  PLATT 5 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  T.  C.  PLATT 32 

GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT 50 

THOMAS  COLLIER  PLATT,  1873 66 

JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 98 

ROSCOE   CONKLING 138 

EUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES 179 

CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR 1Y9 

GROVER  CLEVELAND 179 

JAMES  G.  BLAINE 188 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON 204 

THOMAS  COLLIER  PLATT,  1892 226 

LEVI  P.  MORTON 296 

B.  B.  ODELL,  JR 296 

DAVID  B.  HILL 296 

WILLIAM  McKiNLEY 328 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 384 

TIMOTHY  L.  WOODRUFF 421 

FRANK  W.  HIGGINS 421 

JOHN  RAINES 421 

CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW 448 

ELIHU  ROOT 448 

FRANK  S.  BLACK 448 

CHARLES  E.  HUGHES 463 

T.  C.  PLATT'S  BIRTHDAY  PARTY 466 

J.  SLOAT  FASSETT 486 

MARK  HANNA 486 

MATTHEW  S.  QUAY 486 

WILLIAM  H.  TAFT 502 

xv 


INTRODUCTION 

IN  presenting,  at  the  request  of  members  of 
my  Old  Guard,  memoirs  of  a  life  now  within 
striking  distance  of  its  eightieth  year,  I  am  re- 
minded that  Alexander  Hamilton  once  wrote 
George  Washington : 

"No  man  has  ever  written  a  true  biography  of 
himself,  but  that  he  was  apt  to  blame  himself 
excessively,  or  to  be  too  prone  to  self-defense. 
An  autobiography  is  written  either  from  vanity 
to  present  a  man  favorably  to  posterity,  or  be- 
cause he  desires,  for  his  own  pleasure,  in  the 
study  of  himself,  to  recall  the  events  of  his 
career." 

I  do  not  intend  to  blame  myself  excessively. 
Nor  am  I  inclined  to  a  general  defense  of  public 
acts.  I  make  no  confession  of  vanity.  Neither 
do  I  make  any  apologies.  During  the  greater 
portion  of  fifty-three  years  spent  in  the  political 
arena,  I  have  been  the  target  for  many  arrows. 
My  words  and  deeds  have  often  been  either  ig- 
norantly  or  maliciously  misunderstood  and  mis- 
construed. At  times  my  very  life  has  been  threat- 
ened by  those  who  preferred  to  take  snap  judg- 
ment, rather  than  inquire  what  actually  inspired 
me  in  the  promotion  of  the  principles  of  a  party 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

which,  I  am  proud  to  say,  I  helped  in  an  humble 
way  to  found. 

That  which  is  set  down  in  the  forthcoming 
pages  comprises  incontrovertible  facts,  easily  cor- 
roborated by  my  associates,  many  of  whom,  like 
myself,  were  sponsors  at  the  birth  and  the  chris- 
tening of  the  Eepublican  party.  They  have  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  me,  fighting  its  battles, 
neither  asking  nor  giving  quarter. 

Starting  as  a  warbler  of  campaign  songs  for 
Fremont  in  1856, 1  have,  through  the  suffrages  of 
the  people,  been  elected  to  high  offices  I  never 
sought.  The  party  for  over  a  score  of  years 
recognized  me  as  its  leader  in  the  Empire  State — 
a  commonwealth  containing  three  times  the  popu- 
lation of  the  American  colonies  when  they  re- 
belled against  the  tyranny  of  King  George. 

Twice  chosen  to  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
against  my  personal  wishes ;  thrice  elected  United 
States  Senator  from  this  imperial  State;  main- 
tained in  the  party  leadership  until,  because  of 
physical  infirmities,  I  was  compelled  to  release  the 
reins  to  a  younger  and  more  virile  lieutenant — 
honors  from  my  own  State  should  adequately 
answer  calumnies  which  have  been  incessantly 
hurled  at  me. 

To  one  charge  I  plead  guilty.  I  did  contribute 
toward  transforming  a  once  Democratic  State  in- 
to an  impregnable  Eepublican  stronghold.  To 
another  charge,  General  James  S.  Clarkson,  for- 
mer Chairman  of  the  Eepublican  National  Com- 

xviii 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

mittee,  replies  that  I  saved  the  election  of  three 
Republican  Presidents.  They  were  James  A. 
Garfield,  Benjamin  Harrison  and  William 
McKinley. 

I  have  rejoiced  in  the  personal  and  political 
confidence  of  Presidents  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  Chester  A.  Arthur,  William 
McKinley  and  Theodore  Eoosevelt.  I  have  been 
most  happy  in  the  company  of  such  Stalwarts  as 
Eoscoe  Conkling,  Matthew  S.  Quay,  James  S. 
Clarkson,  Thomas  B.  Eeed,  Charles  W.  Fairbanks, 
William  B.  Allison,  Eussell  A.  Alger,  Joseph  H. 
Manley,  Garret  A.  Hobart  and  Samuel  Fessenden. 
With  such  intrepid  comrades  I  have  fought  suc- 
cessfully for  an  honest  dollar-for-dollar  currency, 
a  protective  tariff,  and  other  great  and  vital  is- 
sues which  the  people  have  so  overwhelmingly  en- 
dorsed that  during  the  period  since  the  Eepubli- 
can  party  came  into  being  it  has  won  eleven  of  the 
fourteen  national  contests. 

As  a  member  of  the  rank  and  file,  and  then  as 
chief  of  the  Eepublican  organization,  I  have  aided 
in  giving  to  New  York  State  ten  of  the  eighteen 
governors  elected  since  the  Eepublican  party  wore 
swaddling  clothes.  I  was  a  worker  in  the  infant 
State  organization  when  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  who 
distinguished  himself  as  the  Civil  War  governor, 
was  chosen  the  first  Eepublican  chief  magistrate ; 
when  Eeuben  E.  Fenton  supplanted  Horatio  Sey- 
mour, and  was  at  the  front  when  John  A.  Dix, 
of  "Shoot-him-on-the-spot"  celebrity,  entered  the 

xix 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

executive  chamber  at  Albany.  I  was  the  stanch 
supporter  of  Alonzo  B.  Cornell.  I  was  the  politi- 
cal godfather  of  Governors  Levi  P.  Morton,  Frank 
S.  Black,  Theodore  Eoosevelt  and  Benjamin  B. 
Odell,  Jr.  I  also  was  influential  in  securing  to 
the  people  Republican  Legislatures  continuously, 
with  two  exceptions,  from  1883  to  the  present 
day. 

Were  I  asked  why  I  became  a  Republican  I 
might  reply  that  I  could  not  be  a  Democrat. 
Early  in  life  I  became  a  believer  in  the  Hamil- 
tonian  theory  of  politics.  From  that  time  I  have 
held  consistently  to  the  doctrine  of  government 
by  party,  and  rule  of  the  party  by  the  regular 
organization. 

I  have  been  accused  of  squaring  principles  to 
the  rule  of  the  party,  rather  than  squaring  party 
rule  to  principles.  My  friend,  St.  Glair  McKel- 
way,  has  written:  "Mr.  Platt  looks  upon  princi- 
ples as  something  to  help  the  party  to  obtain 
and  retain  power,  rather  than  upon  party  as 
something  organized  to  advance  and  enforce 
principles. ' ' 

I  am  much  impressed  with  Dr.  McKel way's 
perspicacity.  Ever  have  I  been  the  implacable 
foe  of  hypocritical  and  fraudulent  shams,  per- 
petrated and  perpetuated  by  professional  civil 
service  reformers.  From  the  outset  I  have  con- 
tended that  a  party  intrusted  by  the  people  with 
the  control  of  the  government  is  responsible  for 
that  government,  and  is  entitled  to  man  the  offi- 

xx 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ces  with  fit  representatives  of  that  party.  If  the 
people  lose  faith  in  that  party  they  will  surely 
drive  it  from  power.  I  have  experienced  intense 
personal  delight  in  driving  out  of  the  party  the 
guerillas,  jay-hawkers  and  sycophants  who  have 
tried  to  shoot  it  to  death  from  ambush  and  who 
have  courted  favor  by  mean  adulation. 

Invariably  has  the  party  and  the  organization 
been  strengthened  fry  the  casting  out  of  such 
characters. 

I  drifted  into  politics — just  drifted.  I  drift- 
ed into  Congress.  I  also  drifted  into  the  party 
leadership,  as  I  drifted  out.  Never  was  I  am- 
bitious for  place.  There  came  a  time  when  po- 
litical friends  simply  patted  me  on  the  back  and 
called  me  leader.  Apparently  I  had  done  some- 
thing that  endeared  me  to  them  and  a  majority 
of  the  Eepublican  party.  This  was  their  man- 
ner of  recognizing  it. 

Let  me  observe  right  here  that  no  leader  can 
exist  any  longer  than  his  party  desires  him.  And 
no  party  can  last  longer  than  a  majority  of  the 
people  wish.  I  became  leader  because  night  and 
day  I  sought  to  ascertain  public  sentiment  and 
get  abreast  of  it.  By  personal  contact  and  by 
correspondence,  averaging  at  some  periods  five 
hundred  letters  daily,  I  learned  what  the  people 
wanted.  Then  I  did  my  best  to  give  it  to  them. 
Thus  I  made  myself  acquainted  with  the  thought 
of  the  masses  upon  the  great  national  questions 
of  abolition  of  slavery,  the  reconstruction  act, 

xxi 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

currency,  tariff  and  other  propositions.  Thus 
I  discovered  their  preferences  for  President,  for 
U.  S.  Senators  and  members  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives.  Thus  I  familiarized  myself  with 
their  views  about  excise,  ballot  and  municipal  re- 
form, the  creation  of  the  Greater  New  York,  and 
other  projects  which  have  agitated  the  State  since 
I  entered  upon  my  career.  In  this  way,  too,  I 
found  it  easy  to  gain  my  knowledge  as  to  who 
was  most  available  and  likeliest  to  be  elected  for 
Governor,  other  State  offices,  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature and  municipal  places.  In  choosing  my 
subordinates  I  took  pains  to  select  only  such  as 
knew  voters  in  their  home  districts  almost  as 
well  as  the  members  of  their  immediate  families. 

The  popular  idea  that  in  order  to  be  a  success- 
ful political  leader,  or  a  boss,  one  must  possess 
ability  to  pull  strings  while  puppets  dance,  is 
most  absurd.  It  is  not  necessary  to  equip  one's 
self  with  strings.  Nor  is  it  essential  to  make 
any  persons  dance.  Conduct  a  political  organ- 
ization as  a  general  commands  an  army,  or  the 
head  of  a  great  business  concern  conducts  its  af- 
fairs, and  you  have  solved  the  problem.  Political 
leaders  are  born.  Few  who  aspire  to  leadership 
attain  it.  Without  the  full  confidence  of  his  fol- 
lowers the  leader's  power  dies. 

Let  me  impress  upon  those  who  seek  political 
honors  that  they  must  first  be  honest.  Then  they 
must  be  faithful  to  the  last  blood-drop  to  their 
friends,  diplomatic  about  making  new  ones,  grate- 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ful  and  quick  to  reward  service,  regard  a  promise 
as  sacred,  fulfil  it  at  the  earliest  possible  oppor- 
tunity. Above  all,  they  should  march  abreast  of 
the  people  and  strive  to  procure  for  them  what 
they  demand. 


XXlll 


The  Autobiography  of 
Thomas  Collier  Platt 


CHAPTER  I 
1833-1853 

How  my  father  sought  to  make  me  a  preacher — 
/  become  a  pill  doctor  instead — I  take  a  wife, 
helpmeet  and  adviser. 

MY  original  ancestor,  Richard  Platt,  came 
across  the  sea  in  1638.  He  settled  in  New  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut.  My  great-grandfather,  and  his 
father,  were  soldiers  in  the  American  Revolution- 
ary army.  The  former  was  captain  in  the  Fourth 
Regiment  of  the  line.  He  is  mentioned  in  Los- 
sing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution  as  one  of  the 
' '  distinguished  patriots  who  constituted  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  at  White  Plains  in  1776. "  A 
year  before  he  represented  New  York  in  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress.  My  father,  William  Platt,  was 
a  lawyer,  long  in  practice  at  Owego,  N.  Y.  My 
mother  was  Lesbia  Hinchman,  whose  ancestors 
hailed  from  Jamaica,  L.  I.  The  male  members 
of  her  family  were  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary 
and  Colonial  wars. 

Such  was  my  lineage. 

I  was  born  at  Owego,  July  15,  1833.  I  was 

1 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  youngest  of  five  sons.  My  brothers  were 
William  Hinchman,  Frederick  Edward,  Edward, 
and  Humphrey.  There  were  four  sisters:  Stella 
Avery,  Susan  Calhoun,  Emily  Elizabeth,  and 
Anna.  But  one  of  the  eight  is  living.  She  is  Mrs. 
Emily  Elizabeth  Skinner,  of  Owego. 

My  father  had  Puritanical  ideas.  He  was  a 
blue-blooded  Presbyterian,  and  sought  to  bring 
up  his  children  in  that  faith.  Early  in  my  boy- 
hood, father  informed  me  that  I  must  prepare 
for  the  ministry.  As  a  preliminary  education, 
I  was  compelled  to  attend  family  prayers  daily; 
go  to  church  at  least  twice  and  maybe  three  times, 
and  to  school  once  on  Sunday.  My  Sabbath  Day 
recreation — the  only  one  allowed  me — was  the 
rather  gruesome  habit  of  walking  in  the  village 
cemetery. 

So  firmly  was  my  father's  mind  made  up  that 
I  should  become  a  preacher,  that  each  Sunday 
he  invited  a  clergyman  or  two  to  dine  with  us. 
While  partaking  of  food  cooked  on  Saturday — 
for  father  would  permit  the  serving  of  nothing 
hot  except  tea  and  coffee  on  the  Sabbath  Day — 
our  clerical  guests  endeavored  to  convince  me  of 
the  attractiveness  of  their  calling. 

I  was  not  at  all  favorably  impressed.  I  might 
have  been  had  I  not  been  forced  to  listen  to  them. 

AT  YALE 

After  a  rudimentary  course  at  the  Owego 
Academy  I  entered  Yale  College.  I  was  sixteen 

2 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

years  old.  My  father's  purpose  was,  that  after 
securing  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  I  should 
go  after  that  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Ere  my  cur- 
riculum ended  I  was  constrained,  because  of  ill 
health,  to  leave  the  institution.  I  had  hoped  to 
graduate  with  the  class  of  1853.  Though  unable 
to  finish  and  get  my  sheepskin,  I  managed  to  win 
a  prize  for  Latin  translation,  attested  by  Presi- 
dent Woolsey.  Twenty-three  years  later  there 
was  bestowed  upon  me  the  honorary  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts. 

Returning  home,  I  sought  first  to  mend  my  shat- 
tered health.  By  rowing,  swimming  across  the 
Susquehanna,  playing  the  old-fashioned  game  of 
patch  baseball,  and  other  outdoor  sports,  I  suc- 
ceeded so  well,  that  my  father  renewed  his  argu- 
ments that  I  go  back  to  Yale  and  study  for  the 
ministry.  The  suggestion  was  so  distasteful  that 
I  pleaded  for  a  chance  to  go  into  business. 

A  DBTJGGIST 

For  years  I  had  nursed  the  longing  to  become 
a  druggist.  Very  reluctantly  father  consented  to 
my  learning  to  put  up  prescriptions.  I  went  be- 
hind the  counter  of  a  small  local  drug  store,  and 
gradually  acquainted  myself  with  the  secret  of 
compounding  pills.  Ultimately  I  saved  enough 
money  to  make  part  payment  on  the  purchase  of 
a  drug  establishment,  and  proudly  hoisted  my  own 
sign  along  with  a  young  friend,  Frederic  K. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Hull.  With  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  my  pocket, 
I  married  Ellen  Lucy  Barstow,  of  Owego,  Decem- 
ber 12,  1852. 

WIFE,   HELPMEET,  ADVISEB 

If  ever  a  man  was  blessed  in  a  wife,  it  was  I. 
To  her  I  owe  much  of  whatever  has  made  for  suc- 
cess and  uplift  during  the  subsequent  years.  Mrs. 
Platt  was  a  woman  in  whose  splendid  loyal  nature 
was  combined  a  fine  discrimination,  keen  intui- 
tion, and  cool-headed  judgment  which  never  failed 
me  at  any  crisis  or  exigency  during  the  almost 
half  century  we  traveled  the  road  of  life  together. 
Her  counsel,  sagacious  always,  came  to  my  aid 
in  matters  of  politics,  and  (for  I  used  to  make  her 
my  confidante  in  the  things  which  were  vital  to 
any  and  all  my  interests)  I  invariably  found  it 
unerring.  It  was  never  the  expedient  with  her. 
It  was  the  same  conservative  judgment  of  a 
woman  of  deep  convictions  and  unflinching  char- 
acter. She  would  stoop  to  no  mean  thing.  Eight 
was  always  right  to  Ellen  Platt. 

In  the  tenderer  relations,  as  mother,  home- 
keeper,  I  look  back  upon  her  with  the  finest  emo- 
tions that  can  possess  a  man;  for  no  woman  was 
more  loyal  or  devoted  to  her  family  than  she. 
She  was  at  her  best  when  her  hair  had  grown 
gray,  the  strong  and  once  smooth  forehead  had 
become  seamed,  the  bloom  of  the  cheeks  had  faded 
away.  She  never  lost  her  youth  of  mind  and 
heart  though  Time  had  implanted  upon  her  fea- 

4 


MRS.  THOMAS  C.  PLATT 

6 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tures  its  outward  signs.    She  lived  again  in  her 
children  and  children's  children. 

Three  sons  were  born  to  us:  Edward  T.,  now 
superintendent  of  the  U.  S.  Express  Company; 
Frank  H.,  a  successful  New  York  lawyer  for  a 
score  of  years ;  and  Harry  B.,  superintendent  of 
the  money  order  department  of  the  U.  S.  Express 
Company,  and  vice-president  of  the  Fidelity  and 
Deposit  Company  of  Maryland.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  my  career,  until  death  robbed  me  of 
her,  February  13,  1901,  Mrs.  Platt  was  constantly 
at  my  elbow.  When  in  the  early  eighties  we  re- 
moved from  Owego  to  New  York,  she  fitted  up 
for  me  a  home-like  suite  of  rooms  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel.  Night  after  night,  while  we  wicked 
politicians  connived  for  the  public  good,  Mrs. 
Platt  worked  at  her  embroidery.  Now  and  then 
she  would  drop  a  word  of  sage  advice  to  me.  She 
probably  knew  more  about  political  secrets  and 
methods  than  any  woman  of  her  day  in  the  East. 
But  she  never  " peached"  on  us. 


6 


CHAPTER  II 

1853-1860 

1  start  out  as  a  political  troubadour — Sing  for 
Fremont — Mix  a  country  clerk's  duties  with 
fashioning  sketches  of  drugs  I  sell — As  maga- 
zine editor  I  write  verse  for  old  folks  and 
stories  for  children — Some  of  the  bucolics  and 
tales  I  inflicted  upon  Tioga  Darby s  and  Joans. 

EAELY  in  1853  the  nation  was  in  the  throes  of 
the  slavery  controversy.  I  became  an  intense  abo- 
litionist. I  observed  with  bated  breath  the  union 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  William  H.  Seward,  Horace 
Greeley  and  John  Sherman,  Eepublicans;  Henry 
Wilson,  Henry  Winter  Davis  and  Ben  Wade, 
Know  Nothings;  Hannibal  Hamilton,  Lyman 
Trumbnll  and  Frank  Blair,  Democrats;  Charles 
Simmer  and  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Free  Soilers;  and 
Giddings,  Garrison,  Phillips  and  the  Love  joys, 
Abolitionists,  to  create  a  new  party.  That  party 
was  and  is  known  to-day  as  the  Eepublican  party. 
It  was  formed  for  the  final  effacement  of  human 
slavery  from  the  American  continent. 

While  at  the  drug  counter  I  studied  assiduously 
the  speeches  and  acts  of  Thurlow  Weed,  William 
H.  Seward  and  Horace  Greeley,  about  whom  the 

7 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

New  York  State  Whigs  and  1 1  Conscientious  Demo- 
crats ' '  rallied,  and  longed  to  be  in  their  confidence. 
In  this  I  was  not  satisfied.  But  later  I  did  possess 
that  of  their  heirs,  Hugh  Hastings,  Eeuben  E. 
Fenton  and  Eoscoe  Conkling. 

AS  CAMPAIGN  WARBLER 

I  was  not  an  orator.  But  I  could  sing  some. 
At  least  I  managed  to  master  the  tenor  score  of 
sacred  music  in  the  old  Presbyterian  church  in 
Owego.  So,  when  John  C.  Fremont  was  named 
as  the  first  candidate  of  the  Eepublican  party  in 
1856  for  the  Presidency,  I  concluded  that  I  could 
help  a  little  by  warbling  campaign  ditties.  I  also 
made  some  attempts  at  composing  the  words  and 
airs  to  the  melodies.  A  number  of  us  boys  formed 
a  glee  club.  My  heart  still  thumps  when  I  recall 
how  nightly  we  used  to  clamber  aboard  hay-ricks, 
carry-alls,  or  any  other  available  vehicle,  and 
whirl  about  the  counties  of  Tioga  and  Tompkins, 
chanting  the  virtues  of  the  Pathfinder  and  urging 
upon  the  people  in  canticles  and  verse  why  he 
ought  to  be  President  of  the  United  States. 

My  first  aide  was  Charles  A.  Munger,  a  school- 
day  chum.  He  developed  rare  ability  in  getting 
up  musical  campaign  contributions.  My  ears  still 
ring  with  the  tunes  and  words  composed  by  him. 
They  contained  satires  upon  Democrats,  and 
eulogies  of  the  pioneer  who  led  the  initial  fight 
waged  by  the  Eepublican  party. 

8 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  was  a  rather  gaunt,  rangy  fellow.  A  pictur- 
esque figure  I  made,  some  said,  as,  armed  with 
tuning-fork,  I  beat  time,  while  my  comrades 
ground  out  political  ballads. 

A  favorite  with  us  was  the  *  Rallying  Song." 
It  was  arranged  to  the  air  of  the  "Marseillaise." 
It  ran  like  this : 

Behold  the  storm  is  rolling, 

Which  Border  fiends,  Confederates   raise. 
The  Dogs  of  War,  let  loose,  are  howling, 

And  lo!  our  infinite  cities  blaze. 
And  shall  we  calmly  view  the  ruin 

While  lawless  force,  with  giant  stride, 

Spreads  desolation  far  and  wide, 
Its  guilty  blood  its  hands  embruing? 

Chorus: 

Arise,  arise,  ye  brave, 

And  let  our  war  cry  be, 
Free  Speech,  Free  Press,  Free  Soil,  Free  Men, 

Fremont  and  Victory! 

Another  that  our  little  band  of  political  trouba- 
dours used  to  delight  in  reeling  off  was  entitled 
"We  All  Give  Them  Jesse !"  It  was  Sung  to  the 
air  "Wait  for  the  Wagon."  A  verse  from  it 
reads : 

Ye  friends  of  Freedom,  rally  now, 

And  push  the  cause  along. 
We  have  a  glorious  candidate, 

A  platform  broad  and  strong. 
Free  Speech,  Free  Press,  Free  Soil,  Fremont! 

We  have  no  fears, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


With  such  a  battle  cry 

We'll  beat  the  Bu-chan-iers! 
We'll  give  them  Jesse, 
We'll  give  them  Jesse, 
We'll  give  them  Jesse, 
When  we  rally  to  the  polls. 

"The  Fremont  Train "  was  set  to  the  tune  of 
"Old  Dan  Tucker. ' '  A  sample  verse  was  like  this : 

The  Fremont  train  has  gone  along, 

Just  jump  aboard.    The  train 

Is  bound  for  Washington, 
And  it  carries  Fremont's  foes  of  wrong, 

Our  bravest  son. 
Clear  the  track,  Filibusters, 
Now's  no  time  for  threats  or  blusters. 
Clear  the  track,  or  ere  you  dream  on  it, 
You'll  be  beneath  the  car  of  Fremont. 

"The  White  House  Bace"  was  sung  to  the  air 
"Camptown  Baces."  It  always  made  a  hit. 
Buchanan,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, was  labeled  "The  Old  Gray,"  while  Fremont 
was  the  "Mustang  Colt."  The  words  of  the  ditty 
were : 

There's  an  old  Gray  Horse,  whose  name  is  Buck, 
The  Mustang  Colt  is  young  and  strong. 

Du  da,  de  da. 
His  dam  was  Folly,  and  his  sire  Bad  Luck, 

De  da,  du  da  da. 

Chorus : 

We're  bound  to  work  all  night, 

We're  bound  to  work  all  day; 
I'll  bet  my  money  on  the  Mustang  Colt, 

Will  anybody  bet  on  the  Gray? 

10 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


MY  FIRST  OFFICE 

Our  singing  did  not,  however,  produce  enough 
votes  to  elect  Fremont.  James  Buchanan,  Demo- 
crat, defeated  him,  much  to  our  grief.  But  we 
kept  up  our  glee  club,  and  two  years  after  we 
sang  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  the  great  war  governor, 
into  the  executive  chamber  at  Albany.  A  year 
later,  the  Eepublicans  of  my  county  nominated  me 
for  county  clerk.  I  was  elected  and  served  three 
years.  I  declined  a  renomination,  having  been 
elected  president  of  the  Tioga  County  National 
Bank,  and  having,  in  addition  to  forming  a  part- 
nership in  the  drug  firm,  become  much  interested 
in  the  development  of  the  lumber  district  in 
Michigan. 

Then  I  gladly  retired  from  office,  and  went  back 
into  the  business  of  compounding  pills. 

WRITER  OF  ADVERTISEMENTS 

Let  me  break  into  the  chronological  narrative 
here  to  observe  that  I  have  been  reminded  since 
beginning  these  recollections  that  I  long  ago  mis- 
took my  vocation.  Friends  who  have  been  perus- 
ing my  scrap  books  have  suggested  that  I  never 
should  have  been  a  druggist ;  that  I  committed  an 
egregious  blunder  in  entering  politics,  and  should 
have  become  either  a  journalist,  magazine  writer, 
or  an  advertising  agent.  They  had  in  mind  cer- 
tain literary  offenses  which  I  managed  to  dash  off 

11 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

when  not  engaged  in  preparing  prescriptions  of  a 
medical  character.  My  partner  in  the  drug  busi- 
ness knew  more  about  that  than  I  did.  But  he 
insisted  that  I  must  hold  myself  responsible  for 
making  it  known  that  we  were  on  earth.  I  did  the 
best  I  could  by  writing  each  week  for  the  local 
newspapers  a  few  words  which  I  hoped  would  ap- 
prise the  public  that  we  wished  their  patronage. 
Some  of  the  advertisements  contained  evidence 
that  I  was  watching  the  political  kaleidoscope  very 
intently.  The  following  will  demonstrate  this: 

The  Popular 
TICKET 
for  1868 

FOE  PRESIDENT 

THOMAS  C.  PLATT 

FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT 

FREDERIC  K.  HULL 


OUR  RECORD 

Radicalism — Doctors  all  agree  that  we  are 
senna.  We  have  sold  all  kinds  of  roots  these 
twelve  years,  and  beg  leave  to  assert  that  no 
pennyroyal  conservation  contracts  our  powers, 
nor  infinitesimal  pill  of  f  ogyism  pollutes  our  physi- 
cal system.  Our  stock  of  chemicals,  Drugs,  Ex- 
tracts, Powders,  Trusses,  Tinctures,  Wines  and 

12 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Liquors,  is  not  excelled  in  Europe,  Africa  or  New 
Jersey.  Our  medicines  are  famous  for  producing 
radical  cures. 

Reconstruction — We  and  Congress  are  a  unit. 
Witness  the  fact  that  we  yet  sell  fresh  Congress 
Water,  Eye  Whisky,  and  other  mild  medicinal 
liquids  that  Congress  drinks  and  taxes;  also  Con- 
gress Blacking  and  Congress  FoolVcap  Paper. 
The  Portfolio  of  a  Foreign  Minister,  or  any  other 
Minister's  wife,  can  be  reconstructed  at  our  store 
with  as  choice  a  supply  of  Papers,  Envelopes, 
Diaries,  Blank  Books,  Pocket  Cutlery  and  Sta- 
tionery as  ever  Uncle  Sam  thrust  upon  a  modest 
Congressman. 

Russia — Ice  is  a  safer  king  than  cotton.  We 
regret  that  this  Ice-creamery  of  the  nation 
(Alaska)  was  not  annexed  before  the  war.  It 
might  have  kept  the  "  Southern  heart "  from  get- 
ting ' i  fired. ' '  We  will  protect  these  newly  adopted 
citizens  and  their  icebergs  from  foreign  invasion, 
if  it  takes  our  last  mortar  and  squirt-gun.  Our 
policy  is  clearly  Russian,  and  we  expect  to  do  a 
Eushin'  business  in  Snuffs,  Segars,  Perfumery, 
Bird-cages,  Soaps  and  Notions. 

Repudiation — Johnson,  of  White  House  noto- 
riety, ignores  the  black  man  and  repudiates  his 
Bureau.  If  we  were  Cabinet-makers,  we  would 
furnish  at  least  a  Bureau  drawer  for  every 
' '  shade ' '  of  the  South.  Variety  charms  and  skins 
should  not  all  be  white  any  more  than  houses. 
We  fully  recognize  Southern  independence  of 

13 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

character  in  their  early  efforts  to  modify  and  im- 
prove the  hues  of  the  human-hide  divine.  Our 
own  colored  Bureau  reveals  rare  specimens  of 
Artists'  Colors,  Family  Dyes,  Cosmetiques,  Com- 
plexion Beautifiers,  Hair  Oils,  etc. 

Suffrage — There  should  be  a  ballot  box  in  every 
American  family,  just  as  much  as  Paregoric  and 
the  Bible;  and  the  elective  franchise  should  be 
exercised  twice  a  day  by  all,  regardless  of  sex, 
age  or  color,  squaws,  squallers  and  (s)  quadroons, 
provided  they  first  take  an  iron-bound  oath  to 
support  U.S.,  and  to  vote  unanimously  to  patron- 
ize no  other  shop  for  Paints,  Oils,  Window  Glass, 
Varnishes,  Putty,  Glue,  Brushes,  Lamps,  Confec- 
tionery, etc. 

COKNER  DRUG  STORE,  August  1,  1867. 

During  the  war  I  used  to  watch  very  carefully 
for  news  of  President  Lincoln's  levies  of  troops 
and  the  orders  given  by  Scott,  Halleck,  McClellan, 
Grant  and  the  other  army  commanders,  from  time 
to  time.  They  gave  me  many  ideas  for  adver- 
tising our  business.  Here  are  some  of  them: 

UNION  FOREVER! 

The  Corner  Drug  Store 

PLATT  &  HULL 

Owego,  N.  Y. 

Headquarters,  Cor.  Lake  and  Front  Streets.    Just 

South  of  new  Post-office 

14 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Order  No.  1. 

Every  male  and  female  Physician,  Surgeon, 
Nurse  or  Patient  of  Tioga  County,  is  hereby  or- 
dered to  appear  when  convenient  and  necessary 
at  the  Headquarters  aforesaid,  to  buy  their  Pure 
Drugs,  Medicines  and  Chemicals;  Allopathic, 
Homeopathic,  Botanic — warranted  pure — bought 
and  dispensed  by  experienced  Druggists.  Also 
Wines,  Brandies,  Gins,  Scotch  Ale,  London  Por- 
ter, and  other  Liquors,  selected  expressly  for 
medical  use. 

Order  No.  2. 

A  new  levy  of  300,000  or  less  sound  and  pa- 
triotic customers  is  demanded  to  reduce  our  im- 
mense stock  of  Paints,  Oils,  Window  Glass,  Putty, 
Glues,  Varnishes,  Alcohol,  Turpentine,  Kerosene, 
Gold  Leaf,  Bath  Brick,  Tar,  Plaster  Paris  and 
Potash.  Paints  mixed  any  color;  glass  cut  any 
size. 

Order  No.  3. 

The  Vigilance  Committee  and  our  quota  of 
union-loving  ladies  are  commanded  to  volunteer 
in  ^examining  our  rich  and  varied  assortment  of 
Letter  and  Note  Papers,  Envelopes,  Pens,  Slates, 
Blank  Books,  Inks,  Pencils,  Writing  Books,  Muci- 
lage and  general  Stationery. 

Order  No.  4. 

All  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  five  and 

15 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

ninety-five  must  hold  themselves  subject  to  a  draft 
— on  the  pocket — for  their  supplies  of  Perfumery, 
Choice  Confectionery,  Bird  Cages,  Fine  Pocket 
Cutlery,  Hair  Dyes  and  Oils,  Brushes,  Combs, 
Trusses  and  Shoulder-braces,  best  Snuffs  and  To- 
baccos, Fine  Segars  and  Flavor. 

Order  No.  5. 

Prepare  to  Dye — by  procuring  our  free  list  of 
receipts  for  dyeing,  and  then  purchase  of  us  good 
and  reliable  dye  woods,  Dye  Stuffs,  Indigo, 
Cochineal,  Cudbear,  Cream  Tartar,  Annatto,  Pink 
Saucers,  Acids  and  Chemicals  of  every  sort. 

Order  No.  6. 

Platt  and  Hull  expect  every  American  citizen 
to  do  as  he  pleases;  but  as  the  Fall  campaign 
opens,  they  will  rejoice  to  see  new  customers,  as 
well  as  old,  "falling  in,"  and  enlisting  to  down 
the  rebellion  and  General  High  Prices.  Our  policy 
is  defined.  We  shall  not  refuse  postage  stamps, 
even  from  contrabands.  Captain  Strict  Atten- 
tion and  Lieutenant  Uniform  Politeness  are  on 
our  staff.  Old  Low  Prices  is  still  our  Quarter- 
master in  Owego  at  the  Corner  Drug  Store.  You 
can  buy  there : 

Paints,  Oils,  Varnishes,  Putty,  Glue, 
Knives,  Razors,  Brushes,  Blank  Books,  too, 
Glass  for  Mirrors,  Windows,  Fixtures, 
Kerosene  and  Patent  Mixtures, 
Lamps,  Candles,  Spices,  Shoulder  Braces, 

16 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Nurse  Bottles,  Nipples,  Picture  Cases, 
Tube-Paints,  Segars  and  Pocket  Books. 
Enough  for  the  present, 

Yours, 

JONATHAN  SNOOKS. 

Here  are  some  quips  at  the  expense  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  which  we  employed  to  sell  drugs : 

VETOES 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  which  declared 
the  people  had  not  the  civil  right  to  buy  Genuine 
English  Lead,  and  Linseed  Oil,  Pure  French  Zink, 
Mixed  Paints,  of  every  hue,  honest  Varnishes, 
Glues,  Plaster  Paris,  Dryers,  Putty,  and  Paints 
and  Oils  of  every  description,  the  cheapest  and 
best  at 

PLATT  AND  HULL'S. 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  forbidding 
physicians  and  patients  buying  pure  Drugs,  Petti- 
grove  's  Honest  Whisky,  Native  Isabella  and  Ca- 
tawba  Wines,  Blackberry  Brandy,  Old  Scotch 
Ale,  Congress  Water,  Kubber  Syringes,  and  all 
Popular  Medicines,  at  the  Corner  Drug  Store  of 

PLATT   AND   HULL. 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  taxing  all  ladies 
who  should  buy  Bed-Bug  Poison,  Night  Blooming 
Cereus,  Sewing  Machine  Oil,  best  Fruit  Jars, 

17 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Potash,  Bouge,  Whale  Oil  Soap,  Family  Dyes, 
Hair  Colorings,  Artists'  Paints,  Eazors,  Cards 
and  Cigars,  at  the  Corner  Drug  Store  of 

PLATT   AND   HULL. 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  disfranchising 
farmers  of  Tioga  County  who  insisted  they  could 
buy  the  most  reliable  Carrot  and  Turnip  Seeds, 
Mowing  Machines,  and  Harness  Oils,  Kerosene, 
Glass  for  Windows,  Hotbeds,  Mirrors,  Pictures, 
Lanterns  and  Bee  Hives,  all  shapes  and  sizes  ^ 
cheapest  at  the  Drug  Store  of 

PLATT   AND   HULL. 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  compelling  col- 
ored men  to  buy  French  and  "Fantasie"  Note 
Paper  and  Envelopes,  rare  Perfumeries,  unique 
Ink  Stands,  splendid  Portfolios  and  Photograph 
Albums,  elegant  Dressing  Cases,  Female  Support- 
ers, Sperm  Candles  and  Shoe  Blacking  at  the 
Drug  Store  of 

PLATT   AND   HULL. 

Andrew  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill  allowing  horses 
and  cattle  to  vote  that  the  Great  Yankee  Powder 
was  Constitutional;  being  the  best  medicine  for 
horses  and  cattle  extant,  warranted  to  improve 
the  appetite  of  horses  and  increase  the  milk  of 
cows;  put  up  in  one-pound  papers  by 

18 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


PLATT    AND    HULL. 

I  was  a  great  admirer  of  Senator  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  and  cribbed  from  his  sayings  now  and  then 
to  attract  people  to  our  shop.  I  also  used  Charles 
Dickens,  Charles  Pertiller,  the  African  Hostler, 
and  Charles  Lewis,  the  "  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  Bootblack,"  whom  I  describe  later,  to  bring 
trade.  Here  are  samples; 

Quaint  Quotations,  tuith  Original  Notes,  ~by 
Platt  and  Hull 


CHAELES   SUMNEB 

The  great  American  Statesman  is  reported  to 
have  proclaimed  on  the  floor  of  the  U.  S.  Hotel : — 
"That  the  late  earthquake  did  not  come  by  the 
way  of  St.  Thomas  and  Auburn  Underground 
Eailway,  but  was  simply  the  expiring  agonies  of 
the  irrepressible  conflict."  Be  it  as  it  may,  the 
quaking  recently  experienced  at  the  Corner  Drug 
Store  was  the  result  of  a  sudden  decline  in  prices. 
Low-Belia  fell  and  knocked  over  High  Drar- 
gyrum,  who  tumbled  against  Asa-Foetida  and 
tripped  up  Sal-Nitre.  Elder  Flowers  had  got  high 
with  Old  E.  Whisky,  and  both  toppled  over  on  to 
Alex-Senna  and  Bald  Sam  Copaiba.  Sarsy  Pa- 
rilla  and  Perry-Goric  tried  hard  to  keep  up,  as 
did  the  veteran  Col.  O'Cynth,  inspired  by  the  up- 
ward movement  of  Al.  Coe  Hall,  but  were  forced 

19 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

to  succumb,  carrying  all  before  them.  Physicians, 
Poets,  Preachers,  Publicans  and  Sinners  are  in- 
vited to  call  and  view  the  ruins. 

CHARLES   DICKENS 

The  renowned  English  author,  in  Pickwick 
Papers,  makes  the  elder  Weller  say,  "I've  done  it 
once  too  often,  Sammy.  Take  example  by  your 
father  and  beware  of  widders  all  your  life."  Mrs. 
Partington  would  characterize  that  as  a  vial  calo- 
mel on  the  sisterhood  of  lone,  lorn  widders.  Platt 
and  Hull  make  no  distinctions.  Our  motto  is: 
Fair  dealings  with  the  fair  sex,  and  no  questions 
as  to  age  or  condition.  Maids,  matrons  and 
widows  are  alike  welcome  to  our  hospita(b)le 
stores,  and  can  see  our  Albums,  Diaries,  Station- 
ery and  Notions,  smell  our  Perfumes,  Soaps, 
Snuffs  and  Pomades,  taste  our  Teas,  Wines,  Can- 
dies and  Spices,  and  try  our  Indigo,  Dye  Colors, 
Potash  and  Lamps. 

CHARLES  PERTILLER 

The  able  African  Hostler,  in  his  famous  fifth 
of  July  oration,  feelingly  observed:  "De  Corn- 
stitution  is  de  bull-work  of  our  libertines."  Doubt- 
less the  Corn-stitution,  so  classically  defined,  was 
the  same  which  Moses  the  II  (in  his  big  circular 
swing)  spoke  about  "leaving  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,"  but  forgot  and  drank  it  all  up  himself, 

20 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

so  as  to  keep  his  mortification  from  striking  in. 
Trust  an  honorable  hostler  before  a  traitor  tailor. 
Pertiller  was  sound.  He  believed  in  the  Great 
Yankee  Powder  for  the  Constitution  of  horses 
and  cattle,  and  made  it  a  rule  to  buy  his  Segars, 
Syringes,  Chamois  Skins,  Razor  Strops,  Trusses, 
Tar,  Thermometers,  Hair  and  Horse  Brushes, 
Bird  Cages,  Neatsfoot  Oil,  Blank  Books,  Combs 
and  Cosmetics  at  the  Corner  Drug  Store. 

CHARLES  LEWIS 

The  illustrious  Caucasian  Boot  Black,  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  of  Eepresentative  Druggists 
(Platt  &  Hull),  on  his  knees,  thoughtfully  polish- 
ing a  pair  of  consumptive  cowhide  boots,  uttered 
that  memorable  sentiment,  "Let  no  traitor  write 
my  epitaph — simply  carve  upon  my  headstone  'He 
voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln.'  "  Many  wiser  dead 
men  "still  live"  on  smaller  capital  of  sentiment 
than  that.  Another  evidence  of  this  simple  soul 's 
sagacity  is  the  fact  that  he  advises  all  the  world 
and  his  wife  to  purchase  Paints,  Oils,  Glues,  Var- 
nishes, Window  Glass,  Pocket  Books,  Patent 
Medicines,  Feather  Dusters,  Liquors,  etc.,  etc., 
at  the  Corner  Drug  Store.  Learn  wisdom  from 
Lewis. 

Owego,  January  1,  1868. 

Under  the  head  of  "Contraband  Correspond- 
ence," I  indited  such  missives  as  these: 

21 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Candor,  November  1,  1864. 
RESPECTED  WIDOW: 

Your  grateful  expressions  of  regard  for  my  suc- 
cessful treatment  of  your  case  are  received.  Of 
course  the  physician's  skill  is  unavailing  without 
pure  and  reliable  remedies.  Such  medicines  it 
has  been  my  invariable  fortune  to  purchase  for 
the  last  ten  years  at  the  Drug  Store  of  Platt  & 
Hull.  Their  skill  in  selection  of  Drugs,  Chemi- 
cals, Wines  and  Liquors,  and  their  care  in  com- 
pounding, have  passed  into  a  proverb.  Go  no- 
where else  for  your  supplies. 

Faithfully  yours, 

ALEX.  SENNA,  M.D. 

Apalachin,  November  16, 1864. 
DEAR  SISTEK  MEHITABLE: 

I  take  my  pen  in  hand  to  inform  you  that  my 
nerves  is  all  strong  and  hope  these  few  lines  will 
find  you  enjoying  the  same  blessin.  What  on  airth 
is  the  world  a-comin  to?  When  I  was  a  gal,  we 
didn't  have  no  Salfurino,  Mygentle  and  sich  fancy 
Dye  Stuffs  as  they  now  sell  by  the  cartload  at 
the  Corner  Pothecary  Shop.  These  war  times  is 
dredful.  God's  free  Cordial  has  had  to  sukum  to 
Mrs.  Winslow's  Soothin  Syrup.  No  thin 's  so  good 
as  it  used  to  be,  savin,  p'raps,  Platt  &  Hull's 
Snuff,  Indigo,  Madder,  Potash  and  Paddegoric. 
You  had  orter  see  the  Widder  Wiggins.  She 
bought  some  famous  Hair  Eectifyer  and  Cheek 
Beautifier  at  Platt  &  Hull's,  and  now  they  say  is 

22 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

goin  again  into  the  holy  bonds  of  Wedlock.  Hadn't 
we  better  go  and  do  likewise? 

Your  Sufferin  Sister, 

CHARITY  JENKINS. 

Berkshire,  Thanksgiving  Day,  1864. 
MY  DEAREST  MOLLIE  : 

I  have  been  to  Owego,  and  what  would  Owego 
be  without  Platt  &  Hull?  I  wanted  to  buy  a  Diary 
and  lay  in  a  little  supply  of  Paper,  Envelopes  and 
other  Stationery,  and  you  know  how  they  keep 
such  a  splendid  assortment.  A  sight  of  their  love- 
ly Perfumery,  Pomades  and  Toilet  Soaps,  and  my 
empty  purse  made  me  almost  wild,  and  when  I 
came  to  behold  those  stacks  of  superb  photograph 
Albums,  I  became  perfectly  insane.  I  never  was 
so  tempted  to  steal.  When  you  go  to  Owego, 
Christmas,  New  Year's,  Fourth  of  July,  Fair  time, 
or  any  other  time,  don't  forget  that  Platt  &  Hull's 
is  the  place  for  Knickknacks,  Notions  and  nice 
things. 

Fondly  as  ever, 

JULIA. 

The  New  York  Tribune  published  a  long  story 
about  a  sea  serpent. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  Owego  New  Drug 
Store  was  established  as  a  rival  of  ours.  I  sat 
down  and  wrote  a  piece  about  the  new  concern. 
I  told  readers  of  the  " Stocking,"  which  I  later 

23 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

describe,  that  the  firm  across  the  street  purposed 
to  advertise  in  this  way  : 

"Just  received  by  ship  Monongaliela,  Captain 
Seabury,  four  cases  pure  Sea  Serpent  Oil,  a  most 
excellent  remedy  for  coughs,  colds,  consumption 
and  liver  complaints.  Its  virtues  as  a  pectoral 
have  long  been  known  to  the  South  Sea  Islanders, 
New  Zealanders,  Chaldean  Shepherds  and  ancient 
Ninevites.  For  sale  at  the  Owego  New  Drug 
Store.  Price  $4." 

The  lampoon  was  taken  seriously  by  some  for 
a  day  or  two.  Farmers  and  townsmen  flocked  to 
the  new  store,  demanding  bottles  of  the  supposed 
cure  for  all  maladies.  When  they  discovered  that 
no  such  remedy  was  in  existence,  they  got  mad 
and  practically  boycotted  the  "pill  shop"  that 
had  set  up  against  us. 

LITEBAKY   DIVEESIONS — EDITOR   AND   POET 

"While  poets  and  song-writers  may  dabble  in 
politics,  few  politicians  dabble  in  poetry,  musical 
composition  or  other  literary  pursuits. 

There  are,  however,  exceptions  to  all  rules,  and 
I  have  been  one  of  the  exceptions.  I  have  already 
related  how  I  patched  together  some  campaign 
ditties  and  advertisements.  But  my  offenses  as 
an  aspirant  for  editorial  and  poetical  honors  have 
yet  to  be  chronicled. 

I  made  my  debut  as  an  editor,  conducting  the 
humorous  and  critical  department  of  the  St. 

24 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Nicholas  Magazine,  at  my  home  in  Owego,  in  April, 
1853.  The  whole  town  was  interested  in  the  pub- 
lication. Having  developed  some  ability  as  a 
writer  at  Yale,  I  was  impressed  into  the  service. 
To  me  was  assigned  charge  of  a  department 
known  as  "Our  Stocking." 

As  one  of  the  editors  of  St.  Nicholas,  it  was  my 
duty  at  times  to  criticize  new  books.  Ticknors 
sent  to  St.  Nicholas,  from  Boston,  a  volume  of 
Stoddard's  poems,  probably  the  first.  To  them 
I  paid  my  attention  in  these  words : 

"Mr.  Stoddard  has  mistaken  his  vocation.  His 
verse  is  full  of  echoes,  reminding  the  reader  of 
the  sensuous  Keats,  the  fanciful  Shelley,  the  pic- 
turesque Tennyson,  etc.  The  Minstrel  of  the 
North  has  not  escaped  from  these  miscellaneous 
thefts.  Instead  of  clutching  in  the  dark  at  the 
hem  of  Shakspere's  consecrated  robe,  let  him 
'hold  the  even  tenor  of  his  way'  in  the  obscure 
path  that  nature  and  the  gods  have  worked  out 
for  him." 

One  of  my  first  efforts  was  an  invitation  for 
children,  and  grown  folks,  too,  to  send  in  anec- 
dotes and  gossip.  "For  an  hour  of  fun  alive,  give 
us  the  company  of  bright  children,"  I  wrote. 
There  were  very  many  bright  misses  and  masters 
in  Owego.  They  contributed  some  of  the  clever- 
est stories  I  ever  read.  I  recall  that  a  sweet  little 
friend  of  mine  recited  how  she  for  the  first  time 
attended  church.  When  she  saw  the  rector  in  his 
.white  robe  she  must  have  been  greatly  impressed. 

25 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

I  asked  her  to  tell  me  of  her  experience.  She  an- 
swered naively:  "Yes,  Mr.  Platt,  I  saw  God — 
and  He  had  His  nightgown  on." 

That  story  went  into  "Our  Stocking,"  and  was 
copied  the  country  over. 

As  I  have  said,  I  had  engaged  in  the  drug  busi- 
ness, and  almost  daily  opportunity  offered  itself 
to  weave  into  a  yarn  amusing  incidents  in  which 
I  figured  or  which  passed  under  my  observation. 

Owego  had  gone  dry  on  the  liquor  question.  One 
day  a  customer  from  the  backwoods  came  in  and 
asked  me : 

"Do  you  keep  shot?" 

"No.  Only  half -shot,  these  no-license  times," 
was  my  answer. 

The  tale  spread  about  town,  and  within  a  few 
days  several  contributors  to  the  "Stocking"  sent 
it  in  to  me  as  original. 

I  have  culled  out  of  my  scrap  book  other  tales 
which  I  wrote  for  "Our  Stocking."  Here  are 
some  of  them: 

The  proprietor  of  the  Owego  Hotel  caught  a 
half-witted  neighbor  one  cold  night  at  the  hotel 
wood  pile.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  abuse  the  thief 
roundly. 

"Oh,  yis,"  retorted  the  unabashed  and  still 
ready-tongued  Milesian,  "now  Oi  have  found  ye 
out;  jist  what  iverybody  says,  ye  quarrel  with 
iverybody  ye  have  dealings  wid." 

The  editor  received  a  call  from  a  farmer  who 
had  subscribed  for  St.  Nicholas.  He  explained  that 

26 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

he  had  concluded  to  support  Franklin  Pierce  for 
President  by  declaring:  "I  couldn't  vote  for  that 
cussed  Scott,  because  he  kept  the  American  sol- 
diers three  months  in  Mexico,  trying  to  take  the 
city  of  Quebec." 

One  venerable  citizen,  a  Democrat  of  the  most 
rabid  type,  arranged  a  revival  meeting.  He  asked 
the  prayers  of  the  congregation  for  his  "  forty 
unconverted  grandchildren/'  One  of  the  grand- 
children, old  enough  to  vote  the  Whig  ticket, 
turned  the  tables  on  his  Democratic  grandsire  by 
getting  up  in  meeting  and  asking  prayer  "for  the 
whole  Jackson  party." 

I  had  great  sport  grilling  the  Legislature  of  the 
day.  The  ' '  Stocking"  related  how  a  distinguished 
New  York  politician,  a  victim  to  headache,  went 
to  a  surgeon,  who  took  out  his  brains  and  filled 
the  cavity  with  cotton. 

"I  think,"  said  the  surgeon  to  the  patient,  "that 
that  will  relieve  you.  Come  around  in  a  month, 
and  if  necessary  I  will  replace  your  brains." 

A  month  passed.  The  grateful  politician,  who 
had  been  unusually  active  in  the  interim,  reported 
to  his  physician:  "I  never  felt  better  in  my 
life." 

"But,"  said  the  doctor,  "I've  got  your  brains 
all  ready — shan't  I  put  'em  back?" 

"That's  all  right,  doctor,"  was  the  patient's 
reply.  "But  I  shan't  need  'em.  I've  been  elected 
to  the  Legislature." 

Finney,  the  evangelist,  was  well  known  in 

27 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Owego,  where  he  made  more  than  one  stirring 
call  to  the  unconverted.  The  "  Stocking"  de- 
scribed him  as  meeting  a  profane  boatman  on 
the  canal-bank  in  Eochester.  This  conversation 
ensued : 

Finney  (solemnly) — Sir,  do  you  know  where  you 
are  going! 

Profane  Boatman — Up  the  canal  on  the  Johnny 
Sands. 

Finney — No,  no;  you  are  going  to  h — 1,  faster 
than  any  canal  boat  can  carry  you. 

Profane  Boatman  (irately) — And  now,  do  you 
know  where  you  are  going? 

Finney — I  expect  to  go  to  Heaven! 

Profane  Boatman— No,  no ;  you  are  going  right 
into  the  canal ! 

And  with  that  he  pitched  him  in. 

No-license  made  it  hard  to  get  a  drink.  The 
physicians  of  Owego  hesitated  long  before  they 
prescribed  liquor.  One  poor  doctor  had  the  hard- 
est time  to  resist  the  importunities  of  his  patients. 

He  agreed  one  day  to  prescribe  whisky  for 
Michael  McGuire,  and  asked  him  if  two  ounces 
would  be  about  right. 

"Sure,  doctor,"  said  Michael,  "two  quarts 
would  be  nearer  right."  Then  hopefully: 
"What's  a  barrel  of  whisky  in  a  family  that 
doesn't  keep  a  cow?" 

German  literature  appealed  strongly  to  me.  I 
loved  to  translate  German  poems.  Specimens  of 

28 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

my  work  were  published  in  the  "  Stocking. "  Here 
is  one : 

Abroad  shalt  thou  ro, 

On  thy  white  bosom  wear 
A  nosegay,  and  doubt  not 

An  angel  is  there; 
Place  a  rose  near  thy  l-ed, 

Nightly  sentry  to  keep, 
And  angels  shall  rock  thee 

On  roses  to  sleep. 

This  verse  in  the  "Stocking"  was  original  with 
me: 

TO  STEL.LA 

A  little  star  rode  all  alone, 

Along  the  azure  sky, 
And  sang  a  mournful  song,  because 

No  other  orb  was  nigh ; 
But  soon  a  glorious  planet  swept 

Adown  the  ethereal  main, 
And  twinkled  at  the  pretty  star, 

Which  twinkled  back  again. 
They  wove  in  one  their  silver  crowns, 

And  locked  their  flashing  wings, 
And  now  no  rover  of  the  skies 

Like  happy  Stella  sings. 

The  libations  and  tragic  death  of  a  Berkshire 
town  character  inspired  me  to  compose  a  few 
verses,  originally  printed  in  my  home  newspapers. 
Years  after  I  read  them  once  at  a  Lotos  Club  din- 
ner. The  guests  told  me  they  were  a  scream.  The 
skit  Was  entitled  "A  Pastoral  Poem,  with  a 
queue-rious  pig-tail,  after  Hood,  but  not  much 

29 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

behind  Saxe,  on  the  death  of  P.  I.  G.  Potter. " 
(Peter  Ishmael  Gamaliel  Potter,  familiarly  known 
as  "Pig"  Potter,  fought  for  freedom,  bored  for 
water,  and  died  for  whisky.) 
The  lines  were: 


The  Potters  were  old  Berkshire  stock, 
Son  "Pig,"  a  blooded  man, 

Who,  with  a  smooth-bore  on  his  back, 
Helped  free  the  sons  of  Ham. 

II 

In  peace  and  war  he  plied  his  arts, 

For  water  or  for  blood ; 
He  bored  for  one  in  rebels'  hearts, 

The  other — in  the  mud. 

Ill 

For  water  he  would  root  like  sin, 
'Mid  grunts  of  fiendish  mirth, 

And  plunge  his  hellish  iron  in 
The  bow-wells  of  the  earth. 


IV 


He  saved  his  bacon  in  the  "wah," 
His  pay  was  not  sin's  wages. 

He  cared  no  straw,  save  sages  saw 
Him  chopped  into  sau-sages. 


Though  hard  Pig's  lot,  he  bore  it  well, 
Through  hard-pan,  storm  and  sun; 

He  never  squealed  on  battlefield, 
But  found  dead-loads  of  fun. 

30 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


VI 


Pig's  pen  produced  choice  tender-l(o)ines, 

Rich  liter-ary  meat; 
And  when  his  gait  was  poetry, 

You'd  smile  to  see  Pig's  feet. 

VII 

His-will  was  law,  with  all  well-bred 

Corn-fed  rats  of  his  crib. 
And  though  a  single  life  Pig  Lead, 

He  always  had  spare-rib. 

VIII 

His  mouth  was  a  fire-water  cure, 

One  eyelid  owned  a  stye; 
He  swore  he  took  his  water  pure, 

In  corn-you  or  Pig's  eye. 


IX 


Queer  spirits  his  resorts  adorned, 
Tough  chaps  who  scorned  rye  bread 

His  mess  was  always  badly  corned, 
But  passed  for  prime  still-fed. 


In  winter  drear,  he  swilled  his  beer, 

A  swine  or  porcine  bummer; 
This  proverb  queer,  to  him  was  dear: 
"One's  wallow  don't  make  summer." 


XI 


He  ever  gave  a  willing  ear, 
Though  thous-and  bores  assail; 

His  nose's  bloom,  his  eye-ball's  blear. 
Lent  luster  to  each  tale. 
31 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

XII 
At  last  grim  death  stuck  Pig's  thick  rind, 

Dried  up  his  water  work; 
He  made  a  brine  of  pure  "strychnine," 

And  pickled  his  fresh  pork. 

XIII 
Though  life  was  hut  a  deuced  hore, 

To  find  old  Adam's  swig, 
In  death,  with  spirits,  may  he  soar 

An  angel — not  roast  Pig. 

During  1877  and  1878  I  did  a  deal  of  traveling 
in  the  wild  and  woolly  West.  Horace  Greeley, 
editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  and  Charles  G. 
Fairman,  editor  of  the  Elmira  Advertiser,  re- 
quested me  to  write  for  their  readers  my  impres- 
sions. I  contributed  a  number  of  letters.  Here- 
with are  presented  one  or  two  of  my  efforts  to 
become  a  journalist: 

[Elmira  Daily  Advertiser,  Monday,  August  20,  1877] 

THE  BLACK  HILLS 
Interesting  Description  }>y  the  Hon.  T.  C.  Plait 

Owego,  N.  Y.,  August  17,  1877. 
To  the  EDITOR  of  the  Advertiser: 

Back  from  the  Black  Hills  with  a  sound  skin 
and  a  whole  scalp!  " Foolhardy "  was  the  last 
cheering  word  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  friends 
on  parting.  They  had  been  reading  the  sensa- 
tional headlines  which  ornament  the  Indian  tales 

33 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  metropolitan  newspapers  and  believed  it 
all.  The  journey  overland  from  Cheyenne  to 
Deadwood,  a  distance  of  280  miles,  was  full  of , 
fatigue  and  discomfort ;  but  despite  the  pound  . 
over  rough  roads  for  fifty-five  consecutive  hours 
on  old-fashioned  Concord  coaches;  despite  the 
constant  inhaling  of  the  disgusting  alkali  dust 
which  made  throat  and  nostrils  raw  and  sore; 
despite  the  vile  rations  of  sour  bread  and  greasy 
bacon  of  the  log  taverns;  despite  the  danger  of 
robbers  and  redskins,  the  trip  was  one  of  new 
revelations,  sensations  and  enjoyment.  Nowhere 
on  the  American  continent  can  there  be  found  any 
experience  to  compare  with  life  in  a  new  mining 
camp.  Experience  in  the  lumber  camps  of  the 
West  and  South  is  rough,  but  it  is  refined  and 
cultivated  by  comparison.  Society  is  made  up 
of  the  bold,  restless,  reckless  spirits  who  for  years 
have  been  chasing  the  demon  of  adventure  and 
the  ignis  fatuus  of  fortune  through  the  mountains 
and  gulches  of  California,  Nevada,  Colorado,  Mon- 
tana and  even  Mexico;  men  of  every  color  and 
clime  under  the  sun,  to  whom  the  quiet  life  of 
advanced  civilization  would  be  worse  than  death ; 
men  reckless  of  health,  life  and  money,  but  whose 
varied  and  bitter  experiences  have  made  sharp, 
shrewd  and  unscrupulous;  men  who  have  seen 
wealth  and  poverty,  sometimes  almost  within  the 
same  twelvemonth — all  men  of  great  courage  but 
little  conscience.  To  say  that  Deadwood  is  wicked 
is  feeble  talk.  However,  it  is  better  than  Sodom> 

34 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

for  there  are  good  men  there  sufficient  to  save 
it,  and  as  the  population  becomes  less  migra- 
tory, their  morals  will  improve. 

This  new  city  of  Deadwood,  which  one  year  ago 
scarcely  had  an  existence,  now  boasts  of  nearly 
4,000  inhabitants.  It  is  situated  at  the  confluence 
of  the  two  creeks,  called  the  Whitewood  and  the 
Deadwood,  the  one  named  from  the  prevalence 
of  white  birch  trees  along  the  hillsides,  and  the 
other  from  the  fallen  timber  that  strews  the  gulch. 
It  is  a  commercial  center  of  the  Black  Hills,  the 
entire  population  of  which  is  variously  estimated 
from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand,  including  Gayville, 
Leed  City,  Central  City  and  other  mining  ham- 
lets that  have  sprung  up  in  these  two  main  gulches 
and  their  tributaries.  No  correct  census  is  possi- 
ble on  account  of  the  migratory  character  of  the 
people.  Within  a  brief  period  from  one  to  two 
thousand  men  stampeded  from  here  to  the  Big 
Horn  diggings.  Prospecting  there  having  thus 
far  proved  fruitless,  many  of  these  adventurers 
will  no  doubt  return.  Deadwood  is  a  city  made 
up  of  tents,  huts,  shanties  and  wooden  shells,  with 
now  and  then  a  frame  building  that  can  be  dig- 
nified with  the  appellation  of  house,  although  they 
are  all  sufficient  protection  against  sun  or  rain. 
Pine  timber  abounds  in  the  vicinity  of  a  very 
good  quality,  and  now  that  sawmills  have  sprung 
up  all  around  and  lumber  has  fallen  to  the  moder- 
ate price  of  $20  per  thousand,  a  better  class  of 
buildings  will  no  doubt  be  substituted  in  the  fu- 

35 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ture.  Kents  are  high,  small  shops  commanding 
from  $100  to  $150  per  month.  The  principal  hotel, 
a  rough  wooden  structure  owned  by  a  Chinese 
laundryman,  One  Coon  Sing,  is  rented  for  $250  a 
month.  The  streets  at  all  times  present  a  lively 
appearance,  and  especially  on  Sunday.  Mining 
is  the  only  business  that  is  suspended  on  the  Sab- 
bath, and  it  becomes  the  miners'  holiday.  Stores, 
shops,  saloons,  barrooms,  faro-banks,  theaters, 
dance  houses,  are  in  full  blast  on  that  day,  and 
are  well  patronized.  The  largest  faro-bank  is  on 
the  first  floor  of  an  open  store,  a  hundred  feet 
deep,  on  the  Main  Street,  and  seemed  to  be  one 
of  the  most  popular  and  respectable  institutions 
of  the  town.  Gold  dust  is  the  miners'  medium  of 
exchange,  and  every  barroom  owns  its  pair  of 
scales.  Until  quite  recently  a  quarter  of  a  dollar 
was  the  minimum  price  for  even  a  glass  of  lager 
beer,  but  the  spirit  of  progress  and  competition 
has  at  last  invaded  the  land,  and  the  doorway  of 
many  a  saloon  now  bears  this  hopeful  legend: 
"Two  drinks  for  two  bits."  The  town  claims  to 
have  two  churches,  the  one  a  Congregational  and 
the  other  a  Roman  Catholic ;  but  good  plants  must 
be  of  slow  and  dwarfish  growth  in  a  garden  full 
of  poisonous  weeds.  Morals  and  religion  are  at 
a  discount  in  this  market.  Considering  the  dis- 
tance of  overland  transportation,  prices  of  food 
and  living  are  not  extravagant,  correspondents 
of  New  York  journals  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. It  is  true  that  occasionally  there  will 

36 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

occur  a  temporary  scarcity  of  some  one  particular 
article  of  home  consumption,  like  flour  or  kerosene, 
but  as  large  mule  and  ox  freight  trains  are  con- 
stantly coming  and  going,  and  competition  is 
lively,  no  such  state  of  affairs  can  be  of  long  dura- 
tion. Flour  now  is  $19  per  barrel,  and  kerosene  75 
cents  per  gallon.  Good  board  can  be  had  for  $12 
per  week.  For  the  past  six  months  more  than  500 
teams,  an  average  of  six  horses,  mules  or  oxen  to 
a  team,  have  been  engaged  in  transporting1  mer- 
chandise and  machinery  into  these  diggings.  An 
old  freighter  informed  me  that  his  trains  had 
never  but  once  been  disturbed  by  Indians,  and  then 
only  to  steal  stock. 

The  impression  which  prevails  in  the  East,  that 
the  Black  Hills,  as  a  gold-producing  country,  is 
a  fraud  and  a  delusion,  is  not  based  upon  impar- 
tial and  reliable  information.  It  comes  mainly 
from  drones  and  dead  beats  who  have  gone,  as 
many  did  in  the  early  days  to  California,  expect- 
ing, without  money  and  without  work,  to  realize 
fortunes  in  a  day ;  to  pick  up  gold  nuggets  in  every 
crack  and  crevice  of  rocks,  and  because  they  have 
failed  to  realize  their  expectations,  pronounced 
the  country  a  failure.  Such  fellows  would  de- 
spise heaven  if  they  found  the  golden  pavement 
fastened  down.  The  fact  is,  that  mining  for  the 
precious  metals,  like  any  other  business,  to  be 
carried  on  successfully,  requires  capital,  labor 
and  capacity;  and  we  venture  the  assertion  that 
there  is  no  better  field  for  enterprising  labor  with 

37 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

small  capital  in  our  broad  domain  than  the 
gold  and  silver  mines  of  the  Black  Hills.  What 
they  lack  in  extreme  richness  they  make  up  in 
economy  of  mining  and  tractability  of  the  quartz. 
The  rich  veins  of  ore  lie  near  the  surface,  and  the 
great  expense  of  hoisting  is  thereby  averted. 

The  territory  as  yet  developed  is  somewhat 
limited  in  extent,  but  there  is  much  wealth  yet 
hidden  in  the  depths  of  these  hills  that  will  not 
long  escape  the  prying  eyes  of  the  prospector. 
Several  mines,  such  as  the  " Alpha,"  the  "Hid- 
den Treasure, "  the  "Golden  Terra/'  the  "Llewel- 
lyn," the  "Keats,"  etc.,  are  yielding  most  satis- 
factory returns,  in  two  or  three  cases  as  high  as 
$10,000  per  week.  The  average  yield  of  gold,  per 
ton,  is  about  $25,  which,  considering  the  character 
of  the  ore,  is  better  than  a  much  larger  yield  in 
the  more  stubborn  quartz  of  Colorado  and  Nevada. 
Between  twenty  and  thirty  stamp  mills  for  crush- 
ing and  separating  ore  are  in  operation,  or  in 
process  of  erection  in  these  diggings,  constructed 
mainly  for  doing  custom  work.  This  fact  alone  is 
a  complete  answer  to  the  representations  of  the 
croakers.  As  to  the  gulch  mines,  there  are  not 
a  half  dozen  in  the  valley  of  the  Deadwood  Creek 
but  what  are  paying  well.  One  of  the  best  is 
owned  by  a  live  Irishman,  Jack  McLear,  who  has 
already  taken  out  of  his  claim  over  $40,000.  We 
saw  him  "clean  up,"  at  evening,  one  day's  work. 
The  result  was  not  up  to  the  average,  being  about 
$575,  and  his  working  force  consists  of  nineteen 

38 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

men.  His  yield  in  one  day  has  been  as  high  as 
$2,200.  As  a  matter  of  course,  these  sluice  mines 
will  be  exhausted  in  a  year  or  two,  but  the  quartz 
veins  show  unmistakable  evidences  of  great  ex- 
tent and  capacity.  We  hazard  the  opinion  that 
from  $6,000,000  to  $8,000,000  in  gold  will  be  pro- 
duced in  these  hills  the  present  year.  From  re- 
liable data  we  are  satisfied  that  the  banking 
houses  are  buying  nearly  $250,000  per  month,  and 
they  do  not  obtain  one-half  the  product.  From 
the  nature  of  the  case,  conflicts  of  title  to  mining 
claims  are  frequent.  Up  to  the  28th  of  last  Feb- 
ruary these  auriferous  hills  were  a  part  of  an 
Indian  reservation,  but  no  such  barrier  could  re- 
strain the  restless,  resistless  American  gold- 
hunter.  He  came,  he  saw,  he  conquered,  as  usual. 
The  Government  was  forced  to  make  a  new  deal 
with  the  savages,  and  on  the  day  last  mentioned 
a  treaty  was  made  and  concluded,  in  which  Uncle 
Sam  once  more  became  possessed  of  these  goodly 
gulches,  and  Mr.  Lo  &  Co.  reluctantly  agreed  to 
"go  West*'  and  abandon  these  happy  hunting 
grounds.  It  is  not  strange,  under  such  circum- 
stances, that  the  "poor  Indian "  should  hang 
around  the  out-edges  and  occasionally  lift  a  scalp. 
However,  the  stories  of  their  raids  and  massa- 
cres are  grossly  exaggerated.  For  six  months 
scarcely  a  redskin  has  been  seen  south  of  Dead- 
wood.  An  occasional  murder  has  been  committed 
by  them  a  few  miles  north  of  there,  in  and  about 
the  valley  of  the  Spearfish  Creek,  a  valley  which 

39 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

is  well  watered  and  possessed  of  agricultural  re- 
sources of  the  richest  kind.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that  United  States  mail  coaches  and  telegraph 
lines  are  seldom  disturbed  by  them.  They  have  a 
wholesome  fear  of  the  "  Great  Father "  at  Wash- 
ington, and  a  superstitious  respect  for  the  electric 
fluid. 

The  robbers,  "road  agents/'  as  they  are  po- 
litely denominated,  have  been  for  several  weeks 
the  terror  of  the  stage  routes,  but  they  have  done 
violence  only  in  one  instance,  when  they  wounded, 
but  did  not  kill,  the  driver  of  a  coach  who  refused 
to  stop  his  horses  at  their  command.  That  driver 
has  recovered,  and  mounts  his  box  as  usual  every 
day.  We  escaped  molestation,  but  coaches  just 
before  and  just  after  us  were  overhauled  in  the 
most  approved  banditti  style.  When  no  resistance 
is  offered,  as  is  invariably  the  case,  these  gentle- 
manly freebooters  are  extremely  polite  and  con- 
siderate. To  be  sure,  they  compel  their  victim, 
at  the  muzzle  of  the  shotgun,  to  step  down  and 
out,  to  turn  his  pockets  inside  out,  to  remove  his 
boots  and  stockings  in  order  to  disclose  any  hidden 
treasure,  to  rip  open  the  lining  of  his  garments 
and  make  a  clean  delivery ;  but  what  shall  it  profit  a 
man  to  save  his  jack-knife  and  postal  currency 
and  lose  his  precious  life!  Here  is  just  where 
philosophy  is  superior  to  pluck,  and  poverty  is  an 
unmixed  blessing.  After  the  gentlemanly  agents 
have  concluded  their  business,  it  is  quite  the  fash- 
ion to  sit  down  by  the  roadside  with  the  passen- 

40 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gers  and  indulge  in  a  short  season  of  social 
intercourse  and  interchange  of  solid  and  liquid 
compliments.  But  as  a  matter  of  healthy  precau- 
tion, they  always  insist  upon  a  secondary  pull  at 
the  bottle  of  their  victim,  fearing  poison.  Their 
first  raids  were  eminently  successful,  in  one  in- 
stance securing  booty  to  the  amount  of  $20,000; 
but  latterly  travelers  go  divested  of  all  valuables, 
and  the  business  has  become  so  unprofitable  that 
the  attacks  are  growing  less  and  less  frequent. 
They  will  soon  entirely  cease. 

In  conclusion,  we  would  say  to  the  American 
pilgrim,  in  the  language  of  the  Oriental  devotee, 
"See  Deadwood  and  die!"  You  will  surely  know 
little  of  one  interesting  phase  of  American  life 
until  you  do  see  Deadwood.  T.  C.  P. 


[New    York    Daily    Tribune,    founded    by    Horace    Greeley, 
Thursday,  November  14,  1878] 

THE  BLACK  HILLS 


A  ROMANTIC  JOUKNEY 


Modern  Stage-coaching — A  Prairie  in  Flames — 
Mineral  and  Agricultural  Wealth 


(From  an  occasional  correspondent  of  the  Tribune.) 

DEADWOOD,  D.  T.,  October  25. — The  Eastern  pil- 
grim who  glides  along  in  palace  cars  and  imagines 

41 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

that  the  glory  of  the  primitive  stage-coach  has 
departed  should  come  West  and  enlarge  his  views 
of  his  country.  A  ride  from  Bismarck,  the  present 
"Western  terminus  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, 250  miles  to  the  Black  Hills,  would  give 
Mm  new  sensations  and  novel  notions  of  life  and 
things.  At  this  season  of  the  year  it  is  an  enjoy- 
able journey.  Good  roads,  good  horses,  good 
weather  and  good  company,  such  as  we  had,  make 
it  an  exhilarating  experience,  and  the  forty  hours 
of  incessant  travel  are  really  nothing  but  a  pro- 
tracted pleasure  excursion.  Early  childhood  pic- 
lures  of  the  stately  coach-and-four,  the  gay  horses 
and  bright  coaches,  are  practically  verified  on  this 
line.  With  fresh  relays  of  spirited  horses  every 
ifif  teen  miles,  a  courteous  conductor  on  each  coach, 
besides  the  driver,  to  minister  to  the  comfort  of 
the  passengers,  and  armed  and  mounted  outriders 
in  advance,  to  look  after  your  safety  through  the 
dangerous  districts,  rushing  along  at  an  average 
speed  of  seven  miles  an  hour,  you  can  also  imagine 
yourself  in  merry  Old  England  instead  of  wild 
Young  America.  However,  much  depends  upon 
the  companions  of  your  journey.  The  coach  which 
preceded  us  carried  a  lone  woman  with  eight  small 
children.  Think  of  enduring  forty  hours  of  that 
pent-up  agony !  Pity  yourself,  but  more  pity  the 
poor  woman !  The  Democratic  candidate  for  Con- 
gress came  through  with  those  cheerful  surround- 
ings. He  still  lives  to  recount  his  sacrifices  and 
achievements  as  dry  nurse.  Of  course,  there  are 

42 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

all  along  suspicions  of  raiding  redskins  and  fears 
of  roving  "road  agents ";  but  only  enough  for 
gentle  excitement,  healthy  stimulus.  Not  a  funeral 
note  disturbed  our  ears,  except  one  bright  after- 
noon when  an  outrider  turned  aside  to  send  a 
bullet  through  the  heart  of  a  stage-struck  antelope. 
Timid  people,  perhaps,  would  not,  at  dead  of 
night,  enjoy  the  mingled  cry  of  the  coyote  and 
the  bark  of  the  prairie-dog.  But  it  is  only  a  fron- 
tier welcome ;  they  are  harmless  serenaders. 

The  first  night,  when  well  out  on  the  plains,  a 
grand  reception  awaited  us.  For  three  hours,  on 
both  sides  of  the  roadway,  there  was  one  un- 
ending display  of  natural  fireworks,  fantastic, 
brilliant,  beautiful.  The  camp-fire  of  some  care- 
less emigrant  had  invaded  the  dry  grass  of  the 
prairie.  A  brisk  breeze  had  scattered  the  de- 
vouring element  over  a  vast  area  of  territory,  and 
for  fifty  miles  this  gorgeous  exhibition  of  pyro- 
technics made  night  glorious.  The  flames  assumed 
strange,  fantastic  shapes.  Where  the  growth  of 
grass  was  rank  and  uniform  a  column  of  fire 
would  rush  along  like  the  even  flow  of  a  cataract, 
one  great  gliding  sheet  of  flame.  Then  again,  for 
a  long  distance  the  thin  grass  was  consumed 
away,  leaving  the  huge  tufts  of  thick  growth  still 
burning  in  disconnected  clumps,  dotting  the  plain 
like  camp-fires  of  a  great  army.  Here  we  were 
dazzled  by  a  bright  red  crescent  of  advancing 
fire.  It  took  all  conceivable  forms  and  shapes. 
As  we  went  down  into  the  bottom  of  an  occasional 

43 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gulch,  the  glimpse  of  the  burning  highland  was 
like  that  of  a  distant  castle  with  towers  and  cham- 
bers all  brilliantly  illuminated.  Be  assured,  for 
fireworks  on  a  magnificent  scale  there  is  nothing 
that  can  exceed  a  northwestern  prairie  all  ablaze, 
unless  it  be  a  Black  Hills  thunderstorm.  The 
latter  may  be  more  brilliant,  but  is  too  brief  to 
compete. 

Probably  nothing  can  equal  American  avarice 
and  enterprise.  Here  is  Deadwood,  a  live  city  of 
5,000  inhabitants.  Here  stand  the  Black  Hills, 
peopled  with  at  least  15,000  busy  souls,  all  dig- 
ging and  pushing  after  the  golden  treasure  of 
these  mountains,  where  only  a  little  more  than 
two  brief  years  ago  hostile  savages  alone  held 
sway.  One  year's  work  has  wrought  wondrous 
changes  in  these  hills.  The  population  has  be- 
come steadfast,  business  legitimate,  and  the  per- 
manent wealth  of  the  country  positively  estab- 
lished. There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  everything 
considered,  this  is  the  richest  mining  section  yet 
discovered  on  this  continent.  While  the  ore  does 
not  average  as  high  as  many  discoveries  of  Colo- 
rado and  California,  yet  its  uniform  freeness,  the 
abundance  of  wood  and  water,  the  cheapness  of 
supplies,  and  the  great  agricultural  resources  of 
the  surrounding  country,  make  the  net  products 
of  legitimate  mining  operations  more  safe  and 
satisfactory  than  anywhere  else.  With  economical 
management,  the  cost  of  the  entire  process  of 
getting  gold  here  does  not  exceed  $3.50  per  ton; 

44 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

consequently,  $6  ore  pays  well.  The  average  yield 
probably  is  about  $9  per  ton,  while  some  mines 
can  show  as  high  as  $25  and  $30.  A  safe  estimate 
of  the  gold  product  of  the  Black  Hills  this  year 
is  $3,000,000.  It  is  equally  safe  to  predict  that 
next  year  it  will  be  double  that.  Eastern  capital- 
ists have  stood  in  their  own  light  in  neglecting 
the  grand  opportunities  for  investment  which  have 
been  and  still  are  opened  here.  California  specu- 
lators are  snatching  up  everything  that  is  good  as 
fast  as  discovered.  They  have  already  built  two 
large  eighty-stamp  mills,  said  to  be  the  finest 
in  the  world,  one  upon  the  "Father  de  Smet" 
lode,  and  the  other  on  the  "Home  Stake/'  each 
mill  costing  the  round  sum  of  $175,000.  The  lat- 
ter is  now  in  the  full  tide  of  successful  operation, 
crushing  nearly  200  tons  of  ore  each  day,  and 
realizing  at  least  $20,000  in  gold  each  week.  These 
same  persons  are  constructing  two  other  large 
mills  for  working  other  lodes,  and  are  skimming 
the  cream  of  the  country.  There  are  fully  one 
thousand  stamps  already  at  work  in  these  hills, 
pounding  out  the  yellow  bars.  And  still  they  come. 
One  of  the  earliest  and  richest  discoveries  was  the 
41  Aurora "  mine.  Its  average  yield  has  been  $25 
per  ton.  The  title  has  been  in  dispute,  and  a 
desperate  struggle  has  been  in  progress  for  fifteen 
months  over  this  property.  Last  summer,  one 
of  the  owners  and  original  discoverers  was  shot 
down  while  defending  possession.  Very  recently 
Judge  Barnes,  of  the  United  States  District 

45 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Court,  has  rendered  a  decision  confirming  the  title 
of  the  persons  in  possession  and  dissolving  the 
injunction  which  has  so  long  tied  up  the  mine, 
and  now  active  operations  are  resumed.  One  of 
the  lucky  owners  is  the  Hon.  George  E.  Spencer, 
of  Alabama,  who  is  now  here,  and  who,  it  is  under- 
stood, after  the  expiration  of  his  Senatorial  term, 
will  make  the  hills  his  home.  He  has  already  done 
the  territory  good  service  in  securing  the  appro- 
priation which  has  resulted  in  building  the  new 
military  post  near  here  for  the  protection  of  the 
people.  General  Sheridan  made  an  admirable  lo- 
cation for  this  fort  in  a  broad,  fertile  basin  near 
Bear  Butes,  on  a  beautiful  stream  of  water  of 
the  same  name.  The  buildings  in  process  of  con- 
struction are  being  put  up  at  small  cost  and  are  of 
a  substantial  character. 

The  season  has  developed  the  agricultural  pos- 
sibilities of  the  hills.  No  doubt  remains  of  the 
ability  to  raise  large  crops  in  the  fertile  valleys 
which  are  found  in  all  directions.  Vegetables  of 
all  kinds  have  been  cultivated  with  great  success, 
and  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  potato  crop 
has  astonished  everybody.  It  is  deemed  sufficient 
to  supply  the  winter  wants  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion, and  is  selling  at  the  moderate  price  of  one 
dollar  a  bushel.  Petroleum  springs  have  been  dis- 
covered about  fifty  miles  from  here  on  the  Chey- 
enne Road,  and  the  crude  oil  is  being  used  quite 
extensively  in  the  mills  for  lubricating  purposes. 
Some  adequate  idea  of  the  character  and  volume 

46 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  business  of  Deadwood  can  be  formed  from 
the  fact  that  a  Chicago  house  within  a  year  past 
has  sold  the  merchants  over  half  a  million  dollars 
worth  of  groceries  without  losing  a  single  dollar 
by  bad  debts. 

A  new  United  States  district  judge  for  this  part 
of  the  territory  has  recently  been  appointed  to 
fill  a  vacancy.  The  administration  has  honored 
itself  in  the  selection  of  the  man  for  the  place, 
and  greatly  gratified  the  entire  bar  of  the  terri- 
tory. It  is  the  first  instance,  in  the  history  of 
Dakota,  that  a  bona-fide  resident  of  the  territory 
has  been  chosen  to  fill  a  Federal  office.  It  is  a 
popular  plan,  especially  when  men  of  the  char- 
acter of  Judge  Moody,  the  new  incumbent,  can 
be  found  within  the  borders,  willing  to  sacrifice 
a  large  practice  for  the  meager  salary  of  such  a 
judgeship.  He  has  been  for  many  years  a  resi- 
dent of  Yankton,  and  is  universally  conceded  to 
be  a  man  of  rare  legal  attainments  and  strict  in- 
tegrity. He  is  a  native  New  Yorker,  and  the 
brother-in-law  of  Hon.  Thomas  G.  Alvord,  of 
Syracuse,  where  he  received  his  legal  education  in 
the  office  of  Judge  Morgan. 

T.  C.  P. 


I  have  heretofore  had  some  sport  with  Charles 
Lewis,  the  Owego  village  bootblack.  His  quaint 
utterances  gave  me  many  a  chance  for  a  good 
story,  which  I  promptly  jotted  down  and  sub- 

47 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

mitted  to  the  periodicals  of  the  day.  One  of 
them,  that  was  accepted  and  printed  by  Harper's 
Magazine  in  March,  1872,  happens  to  occur  to  me. 
Here  it  is : 

Charles  Lewis,  the  illustrious  bootblack,  whose 
name  the  columns  of  the  "  Drawer "  have  hereto- 
fore rendered  immortal,  still  lives  and  "  shines " 
on  the  shores  of  the  majestic  Susquehanna,  at  the 
village  of  Owego,  N.  Y.  This  professor  of  the 
science  of  bettering  man's  understanding  has  the 
reputation  of  being  a  "born  fool";  but,  as  a  col- 
ored preacher  once  originally  remarked,  "out  of 
the  mouths  of  babes  and  suckers  occasionally 
spouts  up  the  crude  kerosene  of  wisdom." 

Although  weak  in  intellect,  Charles  is  strong 
in  his  religious  faith,  and  a  devoted  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church;  but  he  has  not  yet  learned 
to  subdue  his  angry  passions  under  adverse  cir- 
cumstances. Sometimes,  when  the  boys  of  Belial 
conspire  to  irritate  him,  the  "old  boy"  takes  pos- 
session of  him,  and  he  indulges  in  language  more 
forcible  than  pious  or  polite.  Like  many  other 
professional  gentlemen,  Charlie  boasts  of  his  pedi- 
gree, and  always  points  with  pride  to  the  fact  that 
his  father  was  an  immediate  descendant  of  the 
aboriginal  Mr.  Lo,  and  his  maternal  ancestor  was 
of  high  Dutch  extraction. 

A  few  days  since  his  spiritual  guardian,  Eev. 

Mr.  B ,  met  our  simple  hero  and  proceeded  to 

read  him  a  mild  lecture  for  a  recent  violent  out- 

48 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

burst  of  passion,  in  which  the  poor  parishioner  had 
publicly  made  use  of  the  most  unpardonable  pro- 
fanity. The  accused  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  his 
misdemeanor  that  his  provocation  was  great — 
that  he  was  taunted  and  tormented  by  wicked  boys 
beyond  human  endurance. 

"Nevertheless,  my  dear  brother,"  said  the  kind- 
hearted  pastor,  "you  should  keep  in  mind  the  suf- 
ferings and  example  of  our  blessed  Lord  and 
Savior,  who  was  persecuted  even  unto  death ;  who 
was  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter;  and  as  a 
sheep  before  the  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened 
not  his  mouth." 

A  smile  of  triumph,  of  new-born  intelligence,  il- 
lumined the  bootblack's  woe-begone  face,  as  he 
significantly  answered: 

"Elder,  that  was  bully;  but  probably  he  wasn't 
half  Injun,  and  the  other  half  Dutch." 


GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT 


CHAPTEE  HI 
1860-1873 

/  don  a  Lincoln  Wide-awake  uniform — Am  in- 
itiated into  the  mystery  of  President-making 
— Why  I  forswore  my  first  Congressional 
nomination — Debut  as  a  lawmaker — Write 
lampoons  on  Greeley. 

WITH  song  and  torch,  and  wearing  a  Wide-awake 
uniform,  I  did  all  I  could  in  my  home  district  in 
1860  to  put  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  great  Emanci- 
pator, in  the  White  House.  Four  years  later  I 
aided  in  the  repetition  of  this  triumph,  and  to 
make  Eeuben  E.  Fenton  Governor  of  New  York. 
Nowhere  was  the  shock  of  the  assassination  of  the 
greatest  of  all  Presidents  more  stunning  than  in 
the  little  village  where,  along  with  other  young 
men,  I  was  striving  to  build  up  just  such  a  party 
as  Lincoln  desired  and  advocated.  I  had  become 
chairman  of  the  Tioga  County  Eepublican  Com- 
mittee. I  identified  myself  with  the  organization 
which  Eoscoe  Conkling,  as  successor  to  Thurlow 
Weed,  was  just  beginning  to  lead.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  tragic  death  of  Lincoln  and  the  elevation  of 
Andrew  Johnson  to  his  seat  meant  that  we  might 
as  well  surrender  hope  of  maintaining  our  party 

51 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  the  State  and  nation.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  Johnson  administration,  there  was  not  the 
slightest  sympathy  between  it  and  the  New  York 
leaders.  Therefore,  there  could  not  be  between 
it  and  the  rank  and  file. 

It  was  with  intense  delight  that,  acting  in  har- 
mony with  the  most  representative  Kepublicans 
in  the  Empire  State,  I  joined  in  making  sure  that 
the  New  York  delegation  to  the  National  Conven- 
tion of  1868  supported  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
for  the  Presidency.  There  was  great  joy  in  the 
Southern  tier  counties  when  news  came  that  he 
had  been  nominated.  It  was  redoubled  when  the 
returns  showed  him  to  have  defeated  Horatio 
Seymour,  who  had  twice  been  the  Democratic  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  who  had  been  charged 
with  secretly,  if  not  openly,  sympathizing  with 
the  rebels  who  sought  to  dismember  the  Eepublic. 

The  election  of  Grant  placed  the  Eepublican 
party  on  a  firmer  footing  in  New  York  than  it  had 
enjoyed  since  its  birth.  His  administration  gave 
the  lie  to  Democratic  boasts  that  the  party  behind 
him  was  of  mere  mushroom  growth,  and  would 
disintegrate  and  disappear  as  had  others  formed 
to  supplant  that  which  had  ruled  the  Government 
for  the  better  part  of  a  century.  The  wise,  con- 
servative conduct  of  the  Government  under  Grant, 
and  his  conciliatory  policy  toward  the  men  who 
had  conspired  to  destroy  the  Union,  caused  him 
to  become  a  popular  idol,  which  warranted  and 
resulted  in  his  renomination  and  reelection  in  1872. 

52 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


NAMED  FOE  CONGRESS,  BUT  DECLINE 

In  the  fall  of  1870,  while  about  to  embark  in 
the  lumber  business  in  the  wilds  of  Michigan,  I 
received  a  message  that  I  had  been  nominated  for 
Congress  in  my  home  district.  It  was  then  known 
as  the  Twenty-sixth  District.  I  had  given  my 
sworn  pledge,  before  leaving  home,  that  the  in- 
fluence of  my  friends  and  myself  would  be  exerted 
to  secure  the  nomination  of  Milo  Goodrich,  of 
Tompkins.  I  wired  to  my  followers  that  they  must 
reconvene  the  convention  and  name  Goodrich. 
They  answered  that,  after  a  thousand  ballots,  it 
had  been  found  impossible  to  agree  upon  Good- 
rich, or  anybody  but  myself.  I  wrote  a  letter 
emphatically  declining  the  nomination.  The 
grounds  were  contained  in  this: 

I  have  just  received  unofficial  but  authentic  in- 
formation of  the  final  action  of  the  Eepublican 
convention  at  Owego,  in  putting  me  in  nomination 
as  a  candidate  for  Congress;  and  I  make  haste 
to  advise  you  of  my  position  and  determination 
in  the  matter.  While  I  most  gratefully  appreciate 
the  compliment  intended,  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  the  case  render  acceptance  impossible, 
and  compel  me  to  unqualifiedly  decline  the  nomi- 
nation. 

In  view  of  the  well-known  facts  that  I  was 
chosen  a  delegate  to  this  convention,  publicly  and 
privately  pledged  to  an  unwavering  support  of 

53 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Milo  Goodrich,  Esq.,  of  Tompkins  County,  and 
that  in  my  absence  from  the  convention  the  pres- 
ent result  was  reached  without  the  sanction  or 
concurrence  of  Mr.  Goodrich  and  his  friends,  it 
must  be  the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  party  in  the 
district  that  I  have  no  rightful  claim  to  the  nomi- 
nation, and  would  not  be  entitled  to  the  respect 
or  support  of  the  party  if  I  should  accept  it.  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  political  preferment  ob- 
tained at  the  expense  of  old  friendships  and  per- 
sonal honor  must  prove  hollow  and  unsatisfying. 

I  also  believe  that  all  true  Eepublicans  will  agree 
with  me  in  the  sentiment, — better  no  nomination 
than  a  nominee  tainted  with  even  the  suspicion 
of  treachery  and  dishonor. 

Again  returning  my  sincere  thanks  to  you  and 
the  convention,  and  hoping  for  a  speedy  and  har- 
monious solution  of  our  difficulties,  I  beg  leave 
to  tender  my  declination  of  the  distinguished 
honor.  With  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

To  Hon.  E.  J.  AGABD,  Chairman,  Eepublican  Con- 
gressional Convention,  Twenty-sixth  District, 
N.  Y. 

This  message  was  ignored,  so  I  hastened  home 
and  demanded  that  the  convention  be  reconvened. 
It  was  so  ordered.  Mr.  Goodrich  was  nominated 
and  elected  by  a  very  large  majority. 

54 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


I   MEET    CONKLING 

It  was  in  1870,  too,  that  I  really  began  to  know 
Boscoe  Conkling.  He  had  gradually  assumed  the 
leadership  of  the  party,  laid  down  by  Thurlow 
Weed.  We  came  together  quite  intimately  at  the 
Eepublican  State  convention  at  Saratoga  in  Sep- 
tember. There,  after  a  bitter  contest,  he  handily 
defeated  Senator  Reuben  E.  Fenton  for  control 
of  the  nomination  of  the  State  ticket  and  the  domi- 
nation of  the  regular  organization. 

Conkling  was  then  one  of  the  handsomest  men 
I  ever  met.  He  was  over  six  feet  tall,  of  slender 
build,  and  stood  straight  as  an  arrow.  His  hair 
was  just  turning  gray.  A  curl,  described  as 
Hyperion,  rolled  over  his  forehead.  An  imperial 
added  much  to  the  beauty  of  his  Apollo-like  ap- 
pearance. His  noble  figure,  flashing  eye  and  ma- 
jestic voice  made  one  forget  that  he  was  some- 
what foppish  in  his  dress. 

Fenton  neither  in  looks  nor  mental  qualifica- 
tions was  to  be  compared  with  Conkling.  He 
resembled  a  backwoods  farmer  who  has  just 
dropped  into  town  for  the  day.  Bunches  of  scrag- 
gly  whiskers  fringing  his  under  jaws  provoked 
detractors  to  label  him  "  Spinach. " 

During  his  first  two  terms  as  governor,  from 
1865  to  1869,  Fenton  had  welded  together  a  fol- 
lowing pledged  to  unhorse  Conkling.  He  ingrati- 
ated himself  into  the  favor  of  President  Grant, 

55 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

and  secured  the  appointment  of  many  friends  to 
desirable  Federal  offices. 

Conkling  proudly  declined  to  beg  patronage, 
though  warned  that  his  rival  would  pick  all  the 
cherries  off  the  tree.  He  answered:  "All  things 
come  to  him  who  waits." 


And  they  did.  At  the  Saratoga  convention  of 
1870  Conkling  whipped  Fenton  to  a  finish.  I  helped 
him  to  do  it.  Conkling  was  at  once  recognized 
by  President  Grant  as  the  party  leader  in  New 
York.  He  nominated  General  Stewart  L.  Wood- 
ford  for  governor,  secured  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  State  committee,  and  made  Alonzo  B. 
Cornell  chairman. 

The  State  ticket  was  defeated  through  the 
treachery  of  the  Fenton  men  in  New  York.  Many 
of  them  were  holding  lucrative  municipal  places 
under  Tammany  Hall  by  grace  of  the  notorious 
William  M.  Tweed.  Chairman  Cornell  discovered 
that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  officers  of  the 
Eepublican  County  Committee,  and  district  lead- 
ers, were  drawing  pay  from  sinecures  under  Tweed 
and  Tammany. 

Fenton  men  gave  as  one  excuse  for  knifing  the 
ticket  the  removal  of  Moses  H.  Grinnell,  and  the 
appointment  of  Thomas  Murphy  as  Collector  of 
the  Port  of  New  York. 

One  result  of  Conkling 's  maintaining  his  grip 
56 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

on  the  State  organization  was  the  reading  out  of 
it  all  Eepublicans  who  clung  to  office  under 
Tammany. 

I  devoted  the  spring  and  summer  of  1871  to 
disintegrating  the  Fenton  forces  in  the  State, 
knowing  full  well  that  in  the  fall  there  would  be 
a  battle  to  the  finish  for  machine  supremacy.  I 
found  time,  however,  to  now  and  then  take  a  bit  of 
recreation.  July  Fourth  I  joined  with  my  fellow 
villagers  in  an  old-fashioned  Independence  Day 
celebration.  There  were  fantastics  and  cannon, 
and  firecrackers  and  balloon  ascensions,  the  usual 
number  of  hands  and  fingers  amputated  and  a 
glorious  display  of  fireworks  at  night.  My  friends 
insisted  upon  my  making  a  speech  during  the  day. 
It  was  the  briefest  I  recall  having  delivered.  I 
have  been  told  that  it  was  the  best  short  speech 
I  ever  wrote.  It  was  a  burlesque  on  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  was  addressed  to  a 
group  of  funmakers,  who  were  indulging  in  a 
noisy  demonstration  over  the  birth  of  our  nation. 

The  speech  ran  like  this : 


My  Lords  and  Gentlemen,  High  Joint  Commis- 
sioners and  Low  Jack  Masquers:  When  in  the 
course  of  human  events  it  becomes  necessary  for 
the  people  of  the  rural  districts  to  let  loose  the 
American  eagle,  and  a  particular  locality  is  hon- 

57 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ored  with  such  royal  visitation,  and  imposing  dis- 
play as  your  presence  presents,  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  some- 
body say  something. 

Our  forefathers  did  thus-wise  in  the  days  that 
tried  men's  soles  and  uppers.  Our  five  fathers 
of  this  village  are  disposed  to  do  likewise,  even  in 
these  days  of  taxes  that  try  men's  calf  skins. 

They  have  commissioned  me  to  express  to  you, 
with  all  the  wealth  of  Webster's  Unabridged,  and 
with  all  the  strength  of  spirits  undiluted,  the  pent- 
up  emotions  of  their  patriotic  souls. 

President  Grant  lent  his  powerful  aid  to  the 
wholesale  decapitation  of  Tammany  Eepublicans, 
to  which  I  referred  in  a  previous  paragraph. 
There  followed  a  complete  reorganization  of  the 
New  York  County  party  machinery.  Horace 
Greeley,  who,  like  Fenton,  wore  a  little  bunch  of 
whiskers  under  his  chin,  and  who  was  constantly 
assailing,  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  Grant,  Conk- 
ling  and  all  others  responsible  for  the  downfall 
of  the  Fenton-Tammany  clique,  took  the  chair- 
manship of  the  old  Fenton  committee. 

CONKLING  CRUSHES  FENTON   AGAIN 

The  real  Conkling-Fenton  clash  came  at  the 
State  convention  of  1871  at  Syracuse.  It  was  a 
riotous  gathering.  State  Chairman  Cornell  called 
the  convention  to  order.  General  George  H. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Sharpe  named  Andrew  D.  White,  of  Tompkins,  for 
temporary  chairman.  General  Edwin  A.  Merritt 
proposed  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  Chairman  Cornell 
quickly  ruled  out  Depew  because  he  was  not  a 
delegate.  Colonel  Anson  G.  Wood  placed  G.  Hil- 
ton Scribner  in  nomination. 

Belligerent  members  of  the  rival  New  York 
County  delegations  fought  for  possession  of  the 
stage.  Chairman  Cornell,  his  deputies  and  the 
police,  tried  for  hours  to  restore  order.  When 
Cornell  announced  that  neither  of  the  warring 
New  York  County  factions  could  vote  on  conven- 
tion chairman,  he  risked  serious  bodily  injury. 
White  finally  beat  Scribner,  the  Fenton  choice,  by 
188  to  159. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  de- 
clared for  the  Conkling  delegates,  but  recom- 
mended that  both  contending  wings  be  allowed 
seats  in  the  convention.  The  minority  reported 
in  favor  of  the  Fenton  crowd.  When  it  seemed  all 
but  certain  that  the  Fenton  men  would  win,  Conk- 
ling  took  the  floor  and  saved  the  day.  He  con- 
vinced the  convention  that  a  horde  of  ballot  box 
pirates,  whose  firm  name  was  Tammany  Hall,  had 
clutched  New  York  County  by  the  throat,  tam- 
pered with,  debauched,  and  controlled  the  Repub- 
lican organization  there. 

The  Fenton  delegates  bolted  after  the  majority 
report  had  been  approved  by  a  majority  of  forty. 
Though  they  and  their  friends  again  tried  to 
slaughter  the  Republican  State  ticket,  it  was 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

elected.  Conkling 's  supremacy  as  a  leader  was 
maintained.  The  Grant  administration  was  up- 
held, and  Tweed's  and  Tammany's  attempt  to 
purchase  Eepublican  leaders  was  overwhelmingly 
rebuked. 

I  ENTER   CONGRESS 

From  the  day  I  met  Conkling  we  were  on  con- 
fidential terms.  I  had  been  selected  by  him  to  look 
after  the  Southern  tier  counties,  and  I  made  fre- 
quent trips  to  Washington  to  consult  with  him. 
Though  to  strangers  he  appeared  cold  and  austere, 
to  me  he  was  companionable  and  sought  my  ad- 
vice on  practically  every  phase  of  New  York  po- 
litical conditions.  I  happened  to  be  in  Washing- 
ton during  the  session  of  1871,  when  Conkling  was 
called  upon  to  kill  the  Sumner  constitutional 
amendment,  making  a  man  who  had  once  held 
the  Presidency  ineligible  to  that  office.  Of  course 
this  was  aimed  at  Grant.  In  an  humble  way  I 
joined  Conkling  in  helping  to  strangle  the  plot. 
And  with  that  act  all  doubt  of  the  renomination 
of  Grant  in  1872  was  dissipated. 

When  Grant  had  been  named  for  a  second  term 
my  constitutents  again  insisted  that  I  go  to  Con- 
gress. I  was  reluctant  to  do  so,  but  I  did  wish 
to  make  sure  of  the  reelection  of  President  Grant, 
and  was  assured  that  by  taking  a  nomination  I 
would  aid  much  in  rolling  up  a  big  majority  for 
Grant  in  the  Southern  tier.  I  accepted  a  nomina- 
tion in  the  following  speech : 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


MY  SPEECH  OF  ACCEPTANCE 

There  is  an  old  adage,  a  German  proverb,  I 
believe,  which  quaintly  tells  us  that  "Speech  is 
silver,  silence  is  gold."  A  little  of  the  one  and 
plenty  of  the  other  are  what  make  up  the  wealth 
of  eloquence.  And  happy  is  the  man  who  possesses 
these  goodly  gifts  in  abundance  and  harmonious 
proportions,  and  understands  how  to  bestow  them 
upon  his  fellow  men  with  generosity  and  judg- 
ment. As  for  my  humble  self,  I  acknowledge  my 
poverty.  I  frankly  confess  that  I  have  neither 
silver  nor  gold.  I  can  make  no  claims  to  richness 
of  speech;  nor  can  I  boast  of  any  achievements 
which  in  their  golden  silence  can  speak  for  me; 
but  I  would  be  bankrupt  and  beggar,  indeed,  if  I 
could  not  command  some  trifling  small  change  of 
thought  and  expression  to  convey  to  you  my  deep 
and  absorbing  appreciation  of  the  distinguished 
honor  you  have  just  conferred  upon  me,  in  making 
me  your  Congressional  standard-bearer  during 
this  momentous  campaign.  From  the  fullness  of 
my  heart  I  thank  you  for  the  great  and  unmerited 
compliment;  and,  believe  me,  it  is  all  the  more 
gratifying  and  flattering,  coming,  as  I  am  assured 
it  does,  with  such  unanimity,  such  entire  harmony 
and  general  good  feeling. 

But,  gentlemen,  let  me  also  assure  you  that  I  am 
not  vain  or  foolish  enough  to  imagine  for  a  mo- 
ment that  any  claims  or  merits  of  my  own  have 
guided  you  in  making  your  selection.  I  fully  ap- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

predate  the  fact  that  better  names  have  been  sug- 
gested, and  hundreds  of  stronger  and  more  avail- 
able candidates  could  have  been  presented  to  yon 
for  consideration.  And  yet  I  think  I  rightly  un- 
derstand that  the  events  of  two  years  ago  have 
given  me  this  undeserved  prominence,  and  that 
my  poor  name  is  put  forth  simply  as  that  of  an 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  representative  of  true 
Republican  principles — of  those  principles  which 
can  only  be  maintained  and  perpetuated  by  fidelity 
to  friends  and  loyalty  to  party.  The  occurrences 
of  that  protracted  and  disgraceful  struggle  of  two 
years  ago,  and  the  mortifying  results  which  have 
followed  as  a  fit  sequence,  are  still  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  all  of  us. 

(Goodrich,  on  whose  nomination  I  had  insisted 
in  1870,  proved  untrue  to  every  friend  who  sup- 
ported him,  and  broke  practically  every  ante-elec- 
tion promise  he  made.) 

There  is  no  doubt  but  what  your  action  of  to- 
day will  be  interpreted  by  many  as  an  endorse- 
ment of  men  who  dare,  under  all  circumstances, 
to  be  true  to  their  promises  and  faithful  to  their 
obligations — as  an  expression  of  your  abhorrence 
of  all  manner  of  political  infidelity  and  treachery. 

Should  I  be  elected  (and  I  trust  you  and  I  and 
all  of  us  can  see  no  other  possible  conclusion  of 
this  day's  business),  I  may  not  be  able  to  bring 
to  the  discharge  of  my  duties  the  "oily  tongue 
and  persuasive  voice."  Yet  I  shall  hope,  by  ear- 
nest work,  by  honest  votes,  and  a  watchful  care 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

of  your  interests,  to  make  amends  for  any  such 
deficiency;  and  I  shall  earnestly  strive  to  make 
my  course  command  your  confidence  and  appro- 
bation. 

Of  one  thing  you  may  rest  confidentially  as- 
sured :  you  shall  at  least  have  the  comfort  of  re- 
alizing that  you  have  a  Republican  to  represent 
you.  Yes,  I  promise  you  more:  you  shall  have 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  and  knowing  that  you 
have  a  Republican  representative,  who  is  in  full 
and  hearty  sympathy  with  the  wise  and  beneficent 
and  patriotic  administration  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant — 
that  President  and  that  administration  which  are 
already  guaranteed  a  four-years'  extension  of 
power  by  the  recent  emphatic  endorsement  of  the 
loyal  people  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  the  glorious  old 
Keystone  State.  I  will  conclude  by  simply  re- 
peating the  assurance  that  I  am  keenly  alive  to  the 
honors,  obligations  and  responsibilities  which  your 
choice  has  conferred  upon  me.  Again  thanking 
you  for  the  exalted  compliment,  I  beg  leave  to 
tender  my  grateful  acceptance  of  your  nomination. 

A  SATIKE  ON  GREELEY 

It  was  during  this  campaign  that  I  became  again 
bucolic,  and  wrote  some  articles  for  home  con- 
sumption. Horace  Greeley,  the  editor  of  the  New 
York  Tribune,  who  had  not  secured  all  he  wanted 
from  the  Grant  administration,  bolted  the  nomina- 
tions of  his  party,  and  suddenly  emerged  as  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Presidential  candidate  of  the  so-called  Demoeratic- 
Liberal-Republican  party.  The  temptation  to  lam- 
poon him  was  too  great  to  be  resisted.  So,  one 
day,  I  dashed  off  a  ditty,  known  as  the  "Greeley 
Pill."  It  was  set  to  the  air  of  " Captain  Kidd." 
Here  it  is : 

Oh,  we  Democrats  forlorn, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

Hungry,  fainting,  weak  and  worn, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick! 

Out  of  office,  out  of  place, 
Out  of  hope  and  out  of  grace, 

We  must  make  a  change  of  base, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  se  sick! 

We  must  make  a  change  of  base, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

We  want  a  bitter  pill, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

One  that's  sure  to  cure  or  kill, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick! 

For  these  twelve  long  years  and  more 

On  Disaster's  barren  shore, 

We've  landed  needy,  seedy,  sore, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick! 

Call  us  drunkards,  liars,  knaves, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

Call  us  cowards,  traitors,  slaves, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick! 

Brand  us  murderers  as  you  will, 

Kick  and  lash  us,  we'll  lie  still, 

Dr.  Greeley,  just  one  pill, 
We're  so  sick! 

Mix  it  up  of  all  your  worst, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 
Yes,  of  all  your  isms  cursed, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

(Chorus)     We're  so  sick! 

Slanders,  libels,  scourge  and  thorn, 
"Boiled  crow,"  with  hate  and  scorn, 

Oh,  Gabriel,  blow  your  horn. 
We're  so  sick! 

We  must  have  the  Greeley  pill, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

'Tis  a  nauseous  dose,  we  know. 

And  will  gripe  and  purge  us  so, 

But  the  pill  has  got  to  go, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick! 

Dr.  Greeley,  hear  our  cry, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

Come  and  help  us  ere  we  die, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  we're  so  sick! 

Come  from  old  Chappaqua's  vale, 

Bring  your  pill  bags  without  fail, 

Bring  the  Tribune's  whitewash  pall, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick! 

Behold  us  on  our  knees, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick,  oh,  so  sick! 

Give  us  anything  you  please, 
(Chorus)      We're  so  sick! 

Bitter  though  it  be  as  gall, 

We  will  gulp  it  down  this  Fall, 
(Chorus)     We're  so  sick! 

Grant  and  Wilson  swept  every  Northern  State 
at  the  November  elections.  They  had  a  popular 
majority  of  763,007  over  Greeley  and  Brown,  and 
scored  286  to  18  in  the  Electoral  College.  General 
John  A.  Dix,  Republican,  defeated  Francis 
Kernan,  Democrat,  for  governor,  by  40,000  plu- 
rality, and  again  the  State  had  a  Republican 
administration. 


65 


THOMAS    COLLIER   PLATT,   1873 


CHAPTER  IV 

1873-1879 

Narrow  escape  from  being  a  real  big  boss  quick — 
Why  I  fought  for  Grant  and  specie-payment 
resumption — Espouse  the  cause  of  Hayes 
against  TUden — Ingratitude  of  Hayes  and 
how  New  York  Republicans  punished  it — 
"That  Boy  Curtis." 

IT  was  in  1873  that  I  experienced  my  first  nar- 
row escape  from  being  precipitately  propelled  into 
the  party  leadership,  a  full  decade  before  it  was 
actually  awarded  to  me.  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  Salmon  P.  Chase  died  in  May  of  that 
year.  Senator  Conkling  was  besought  by  Presi- 
dent Grant,  his  brother  Republicans  and  lawyers 
and  our  party  newspapers  to  become  Chase's 
successor. 

Conkling,  Chester  A.  Arthur,  Alonzo  B.  Cornell 
and  myself,  as  well  as  others  influential  in  the 
organization,  had  many  consultations  about  this. 
Conkling,  while  considering  the  tender  of  the  Chief 
Justiceship  nearly  a  fortnight,  often  assured  me 
that  should  he  accept  he  would  employ  his  author- 
ity and  good  wishes  to  place  his  mantle  upon  my 
shoulders. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Finally,  however,  the  Senator  concluded  to  de- 
cline to  go  upon  the  bench.  In  a  letter  to  Presi- 
dent Grant,  November  20,  1873,  Conkling  wrote: 

"I  ask  you  to  let  your  choice  fall  upon  another 
who,  however  else  qualified,  believes  as  man  and 
lawyer,  as  I  believe,  in  the  measures  you  have 
upheld  in  war  and  peace/' 

In  explaining  to  me  and  other  friends  why  he 
was  loth  to  ascend  the  loftiest  bench  in  the  land, 
Conkling  said: 

."I  could  not  take  the  place,  for  I  would  be 
forever  gnawing  my  chains." 

The  financial  panic  of  1873  produced  every  con- 
ceivable kind  of  crazy  legislation,  which  its  pro- 
moters promised  would  prove  a  panacea  for  ills 
from  which  the  business  world  was  suffering.  One 
of  the  most  iniquitous  plans  presented  was  the 
"inflation"  act.  It  provided  for  the  redemption 
and  reissue  of  U.  S.  notes  and  for  free  banking. 

I  was  among  the  foremost  of  its  opponents  in 
the  House.  I  regarded  it  as  most  vicious,  con- 
tended that  the  country  had  been  suffering  too 
much  already  from  an  excess  of  paper  money,  and 
urged  that  the  Government  at  once  resume  specie 
payments. 

GBANT  VETOES  THE  INFLATION  ACT 

Conkling  and  Eastern  Republicans  generally 
made  a  fight  against  the  legislation  in  both  Senate 
and  House,  but  Senators  and  Representatives  from 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  South  and  West  combined  to  put  the  bill 
through  both  branches  of  Congress. 

I  joined  opponents  of  the  bill  in  imploring  Presi- 
dent Grant  to  veto  the  act.  He  answered  our 
prayers.  That  veto  was  the  forerunner  of  the 
legislation  that  ultimately  enabled  us  to  return  to 
a  specie  basis.  Let  it  be  said  to  the  credit  of 
every  succeeding  national  administration  that  that 
policy  has  never  been  abandoned,  though  it  has 
been  under  fire  from  theorists  and  repudiation- 
ists.  That  the  President,  long  before  the  resump- 
tion of  specie  payment  was  finally  enacted  into 
law,  had  made  up  his  mind  that  repudiation  of 
honest  debts  and  the  establishment  of  Greenback- 
ism  as  a  national  policy  should  not  be  tolerated, 
was  made  manifest  when,  after  a  White  House 
conference,  a  memorandum  in  Grant's  handwrit- 
ing was  circulated.  It  read : 

"I  believe  it  a  high  and  plain  duty  to  return  to 
a  specie  basis  at  the  earliest  practicable  day,  and 
not  only  in  compliance  with  legislative  and  party 
pledges,  but  as  a  step  indispensable  to  lasting 
prosperity. 

"I  would  like  to  see  a  provision  that  at  a  fixed 
day,  say  July  1,  1876,  the  currency  issue  by  the 
United  States  should  be  redeemed  in  coin  on 
presentation  to  any  assistant  treasurer,  and  that 
all  currency  so  redeemed  should  be  canceled  and 
never  reissue.  To  effect  this  it  would  be  necessary 
to  authorize  the  issue  of  bonds,  payable  in  gold, 
bearing  such  interest  as  would  command  par  in 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gold,  to  be  put  out  by  the  Treasurer  only  in  such 
sums  as  should  from  time  to  time  be  needed  for 
the  purpose  of  redemption." 

Gross  injustice  has  been  done  to  President 
Grant  in  ascribing  to  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  and 
John  Sherman  all  the  credit  for  the  inception  and 
enactment  of  the  law  which  did  so  much  to  re- 
store commercial  confidence.  While  not  disposed 
to  rob  either  Hayes  or  Sherman  of  their  share, 
I  desire  to  accord  to  Grant  the  greatest  measure 
of  approbation  for  his  conception  of  a  policy  which 
has  endured  to  the  present  hour. 

TILDEN  DEFEATS  DIX 

A  Prohibition  wave,  coupled  with  popular  re- 
sentment against  a  Eepublican  and  Democratic 
Congressional  attempt  to  repeal  the  reconstruction 
act,  one  of  the  monuments  of  the  Grant  adminis- 
tration, contributed  toward  giving  New  York 
State  to  the  Democrats  in  1874  by  50,000  majority. 

Governor  Dix  had  proved  a  most  admirable 
executive.  But  he  had  refused  to  be  bulldozed 
by  advocates  of  an  absolute  confiscation  of  brew- 
eries and  other  establishments  in  which  intoxicants 
were  made  or  sold.  The  result  was  that  thousands 
of  so-called  Republicans  either  voted  the  straight 
Prohibition  or  the  Democratic  ticket.  The  cam- 
paign developed  a  new  and  sagacious  politician  in 
Samuel  J.  Tilden,  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
governor.  He  originated  and  inaugurated  a  can- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

vass  by  school  districts.  To  each  voter  he  ad- 
dressed an  autograph  letter,  soliciting  his  personal 
support. 

Tilden 's  gilded  pills  and  promises  of  "reform," 
of  everything  conceivable,  sent  straight  to  the 
individual  suffragist,  flattered  them  much.  Many 
thousands  of  votes  did  he  secure  by  this  unctuous 
method  of  campaigning. 

After  he  had  taken  the  oath  of  office,  Governor 
Tilden  "  opened  the  books. "  They  showed  that 
Dix  and  his  associates  had  fulfilled  their  pledges 
to  the  people. 

Though  Tilden  proclaimed  during  his  canvass 
that  he  had  discovered  a  corrupt  Eepublican  canal 
ring,  which  he  purposed  to  destroy,  at  no  time  did 
he  bring  to  the  door  of  any  Eepublican  State  of- 
ficial evidence  of  the  indiscriminate  accusations 
uttered  by  him  upon  the  stump.  The  failure  of 
Tilden  to  make  good  his  charges,  and  the  offensive 
partisanship  of  his  administration,  enabled  us  to 
restore  our  party  in  control  of  the  Legislature 
in  1875.  This  served  as  a  curb  upon  the  Janus- 
like  Tilden,  and  very  little  of  his  proposed  revolu- 
tionary and  partisan  legislation  became  law. 

CONKLING  INDORSED  FOE  PRESIDENT 

During  the  latter  part  of  1875  Conkling  had  be- 
come so  intrenched  in  the  leadership  of  the  U.  S. 
Senate,  and  so  universally  recognized  as  the 
spokesman  for  President  Grant,  that  friends  of 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

the  national  executive  in  New  York  rallied  to  put 
him  in  the  White  House. 

My  intimate  association  with  the  Oneida  states- 
man had  taught  me  not  only  to  admire,  but  to  love 
him.  I  made  it  my  pleasure  and  task  to  so  help 
to  organize  the  Empire  State  Eepublicans,  that 
we  might  have  a  solid  delegation  for  Conkling  to 
the  National  Convention  of  1876.  That  solid  dele- 
gation was  chosen  at  Syracuse,  March  22  of  that 
year.  Unanimously  were  resolutions  approved, 
declaring  that : 

"We  present  Eoscoe  Conkling  to  the  National 
Republican  Convention  as  our  choice  for  Presi- 
dent. We  give  assurance  that  the  nomination  of 
our  candidate  will  secure  beyond  question  the 
thirty-five  electoral  votes  of  New  York  for  the 
Eepublican  electoral  ticket." 

Alonzo  B.  Cornell  headed  the  delegation  to  the 
Cincinnati  convention,  which  met  June  14.  His 
associate  delegates-at-large  were  Henry  Higland 
Garnett,  Theodore  M.  Pomeroy  and  James  M. 
Matthews. 

Among  other  delegates,  including  myself,  were 
General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  former  Governor 
Edwin  D.  Morgan,  Sherman  S.  Eogers,  Benjamin 
K.  Phelps,  Marshall  0.  Eoberts,  Charles  M.  Den- 
nison  and  Frank  Hiscock. 

Governor  Morgan  wag  chairman  of  the  Eepub- 
lican National  Committee.  He  called  the  National 
Convention  to  order.  New  York  won  the  first 
skirmish  by  making  Pomeroy  temporary  chairman. 

72  " 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

I  was  delegated  to  act  as  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Credentials.  General  Woodford,  who 
I  see  has  recently  parted  with  his  mutton-chop 
whiskers,  in  a  speech,  eloquent  and  polished, 
placed  Conkling  in  nomination.  He  eulogized  our 
candidate  in  this  way : 

GENERAL,  WOODFORD'S  EULOGY 

"He  is  a  positive  quantity  in  politics.  Through 
the  dark  and  trying  hours  when  slander  and  mis- 
representation hissed  at  the  silent,  brave  man 
whom  we  have  twice  placed  in  the  Presidential 
chair,  he  was  the  faithful  and  true  friend  of 
Ulysses  S.  Grant.  I  believe  that  Conkling  can 
carry  New  York.  There  is  in  New  York  a  vote 
that  is  neither  Eepublican  nor  Democratic ;  a  vote 
that  went  for  Dix  in  1872;  a  vote  that  went  for 
Tilden  in  1874.  Give  us  a  candidate  with  whom 
and  under  whom  we  can  achieve  victory;  that 
means  honesty  in  finance,  loyalty  in  government 
and  absolute  protection  to  the  lowliest  and  hum- 
blest under  the  flag  of  our  fathers." 

The  New  York  delegation  howled  itself  hoarse 
during  and  at  the  end  of  Woodford 's  speech. 

Connecticut  presented  Marshall  Jewell ;  Indiana, 
Oliver  P.  Morton;  Kentucky,  Benjamin  H.  Bris- 
tow.  Eobert  G.  Ingersoll,  in  the  greatest  speech 
I  ever  heard  him  deliver,  named  James  G.  Blaine, 
of  Maine.  Eutherford  B.  Hayes  was  presented 
by  Governor  Edward  F.  Noyes,  of  Ohio.  Pennsyl- 

73  ' 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

vania  asked  the  nomination  of  Governor  John  F. 
Hartranft. 

The  balloting  began  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
inst.  Elaine  led  on  the  first,  with  285;  Morton 
had  124;  Bristow,  113;  Conkling,  99;  Hayes,  61; 
Hartranft,  58;  Jewell,  12,  and  Wheeler,  3.  All  the 
New  Yorkers  except  George  William  Curtis  stood 
firm  for  Conkling.  He  also  received  1  vote  from 
California;  3  from  Florida;  8  from  Georgia;  1 
each  from  Iowa,  Michigan,  Mississippi,  Missouri 
and  Nevada;  7  from  North  Carolina;  and  3  each 
from  Texas  and  Virginia. 

After  the  second  ballot,  in  which  Elaine  gained 
11  and  Hayes  3,  the  convention  was  thrown  into 
a  turmoil  because  of  an  attempt  to  enforce  a  rule 
by  which  every  delegation  must  vote  as  a  unit. 
Permanent  Chairman  Edward  McPherson,  of 
Pennsylvania,  ruled  that  "  every  individual  mem- 
ber has  a  right  to  vote  according  to  his  individual 
sentiments." 

There  was  a  prolonged  and  acrimonious  debate. 
Appeal  after  appeal  was  taken,  but  Chairman 
McPherson 's  rulings  were  invariably  sustained. 

The  third  and  fourth  ballots  resulted  in  Conk- 
ling losing  6  votes  from  the  South.  New  York 
stood  pat  for  him,  except  that  A.  A.  Low,  of  Brook- 
lyn, deserted  to  Bristow. 

HAYES   NOMINATED 

On  the  seventh  ballot,  the  Indiana  delegation 
deserted  Morton,  and  went  almost  in  a  solid  bunch 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

for  Hayes.  Conkling,  who  had  not  been  at  any 
time  confident  of  securing  the  nomination,  knew  it 
was  all  up  with  him  then.  A  quick  consultation 
between  him  and  Cornell,  Pomeroy,  Arthur  and 
myself  brought  about  an  agreement  that  we  should 
follow  Indiana  and  flock  to  the  Ohio  candidate. 

When  New  York  was  called,  we  threw  61  votes 
for  Hayes.  This  made  his  total  384,  or  6  more 
than  were  needed  to  nominate  him. 

William  H.  Eobertson,  James  W.  Husted,  Jacob 
Worth,  Jacob  W.  Hoysradt,  James  M.  Marvin, 
Stephen  Sanford,  Amos  V.  Smiley  and  James  C. 
Feter  refused  to  join  the  majority  of  us  in  cast- 
ing only  votes  for  Hayes.  They  threw  theirs  to 
Elaine. 

The  final  ballot  gave  Hayes,  384;  Elaine,  351; 
Bristow,  21.  Hayes'  nomination,  amid  trium- 
phant yells  from  the  Ohioans,  was  made  unani- 
mous. 

New  York  was  given  a  consolation  prize  in 
William  A.  Wheeler,  who  was  named  for  Vice- 
President. 

There  was  no  joy  in  New  York  over  the  Hayes 
nomination.  Empire  State  Eepublicans  had  been 
a  practical  unit  for  Conkling.  They  were  sorely 
disappointed.  Conkling  himself  took  his  defeat 
much  to  heart.  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  the 
statements  of  several  delegates  to  the  National 
Convention  that  had  Conkling  mixed  more  with 
people  outside  the  State  he  would  have  won  at 
Cincinnati.  Up  to  the  hour  he  became  a  candidate 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

for  the  Presidential  nomination,  he  had  shown  him- 
self in  but  two  States  beyond  his  own — Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  Jersey.  The  masses  did  not  know 
him.  They  seemed  to  regard  him  as  frigid,  re- 
pellent and  exclusive,  and  this  was,  except  to  his 
intimates,  true  of  him. 


TILDEN  HAYES'S  ANTAGONIST 

Disheartened,  but  determined  to  do  all  we  could 
for  the  ticket,  we  came  home.  We  did  our  level 
best  to  hold  the  State  for  Hayes.  The  Democrats, 
however,  had  been  shrewd  enough  to  adopt  the 
policy  our  delegation  had  contended  for  at  Cin- 
cinnati— that  of  naming  a  New  Yorker  for  Presi- 
dent. They  chose  Governor  Tilden.  Then  they 
selected  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  for  Vice-President, 
from  the  doubtful  State  of  Indiana.  Desperately 
as  we  labored,  we  could  not  arouse  the  voters  for 
Hayes.  Conkling,  though  fully  intending  to  com- 
ply with  Hayes '  written  request  that  he  stump  the 
West,  was  unable  to  make  more  than  two  speeches, 
and  those  in  his  own  State.  For  seven  weeks, 
owing  to  an  affection  of  the  eyes  and  a  malarial 
malady,  he  was  forced  to  remain  in  a  dark  room. 
This  happening  during  the  heat  of  the  campaign, 
deprived  Hayes  and  us  of  his  invaluable  services 
in  the  council  chamber  and  on  the  field. 

That  Tilden  should  defeat  Hayes  by  33,000  plu- 
rality in  New  York  did  not  surprise  me.  That 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Tilden  had  carried  the  country  seemed  all  but 
certain  election  night. 

But  on  that  night,  evidence  of  the  grossest 
Democratic  frauds  in  Louisiana,  South  Carolina, 
Florida  and  other  Southern  States  was  secured 
by  Chairman  Zachariah  Chandler,  of  the  Republi- 
can  National  Committee.  These  were  ably  ex- 
posed by  the  New  York  Times,  through  the  match- 
less news  generalship  of  John  C.  Eeid,  then  man- 
aging editor  of  that  newspaper. 

So  glaring  was  the  testimony  of  crookedness 
practiced  in  behalf  of  the  Democratic  nominee, 
that  the  Republican  leaders  determined  to  place 
it  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  ascer- 
tain who  had  been  honestly  elected. 

TILDEN  MEN  CEY  WAB 

The  Democrats,  led  by  Chairman  Abram  S. 
Hewitt,  of  the  National  Committee,  threatened 
civil  war  if  such  a  course  were  resorted  to.  For- 
mer Confederate  army  officers  announced  their 
purpose  of  heading  their  old  commands,  march- 
ing on  to  Washington,  and  seating  Tilden  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet. 

Panic  seized  the  country.  An  invasion  of  the 
national  capital  would  probably  have  been  ordered 
had  any  other  man  than  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
been  President. 

When  the  bloodthirsty  Tilden  men  had  been  ap- 
prised that  the  chief  of  the  Union  armies  during 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  war  of  secession  was  quite  as  prepared  to  put 
down  this  as  he  had  the  previous  rebellion,  they 
calmed  down  somewhat. 

Early  in  January  of  1877,  Senator  George  F. 
Edmunds,  of  Vermont,  presented  the  initial  act 
intended  to  provide  for  an  inquiry  as  to  who  had 
been  legally  elected  President  and  Vice-President. 
It  called  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee,  which 
later  submitted  what  was  afterward  known  as  the 
famous  Electoral  Commission  bill.  The  men  who 
actually  prepared  this  measure  were  Senators 
Edmunds,  Freylinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey,  and 
Conkling,  Republicans;  and  Senators  Bayard,  of 
Delaware,  and  Gordon,  of  Georgia,  and  Repre- 
sentatives Randall,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Hewitt, 
of  New  York,  Democrats. 

The  bill  provided  that  the  Senate  and  House 
should  each  appoint  five  members,  and  these,  with 
five  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
should  constitute  a  commission  to  decide  concern- 
ing the  certificates  of  electoral  votes. 

President  Grant  gave  his  most  cordial  endorse- 
ment, believing  it  to  be  the  fairest  and  most  prac- 
ticable method  of  ascertaining  how  the  people  had 
really  cast  their  ballots. 

The  House,  though  Democratic  by  a  large  ma- 
jority, passed  the  Electoral  Commission  Bill  by  a 
vote  of  191  to  86.  The  Senate  approved  it  by  47 
to  17.  Twenty-six  Democrats  joined  with  twenty- 
one  Republicans  in  putting  it  through. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


SPEECH  ON  ELECTOKAL  COMMISSION 

I  participated  in  the  House  debate  and  enthu- 
siastically declared  for  the  approval  of  the  act. 
My  views  were  expressed  in  a  speech  delivered 
January  25,  1877.  Here  it  is : 

Mr.  Speaker,  to  me  the  following  reasons  seem 
TO  justify  completely  the  vote  I  mean  to  cast  for 
this  bill: 

First.  While  I  firmly  believe  that  Governor 
Hayes  was  fairly  elected  President,  I  cannot  deny 
that  a  large  number  of  citizens  and  members  of 
this  House  believe  with  equal  sincerity  that  Mr. 
Tilden  was  elected.  It  is  an  election  so  close  that 
all  admit  that  the  vote  of  one  State,  and  that  one 
vote  of  that  State,  must  decide  the  result.  It  is 
a  disputed  election ;  the  title  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent is  not  so  clear  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that 
Governor  Hayes,  if  he  were  put  into  office  without 
such  an  adjustment  as  this  bill  purposes,  would 
have  that  general  and  universal  consent  to  his 
administration  which  is  necessary  to  the  welfare 
of  the  country.  In  supporting  this  measure,  I  do 
not  conceive  that  I  surrender  any  rights  that  are 
rights.  If  I  held  a  piece  of  real  estate,  the  title 
to  which  was  clouded,  I  should  ask  the  proper 
authority  to  look  into  it  and  give  me  a  clear  title. 
I  should  not  thereby  declare  or  confess  that  I  had 
no  faith  in  my  own  right,  but  rather  that  I  had 
so  firm  a  faith  that  I  was  willing  to  submit  all 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

the  facts  to  an  honest  and  proper  tribunal  and 
abide  by  its  decision. 

Second.  That  the  matter  of  settlement  pro- 
posed in  this  bill  is  constitutional  and  legal  I  can- 
not doubt,  when  I,  who  am  no  lawyer,  realize  the 
fact  that  it  was  framed  by  the  most  eminent  law- 
yers of  both  political  parties  in  both  Houses,  and 
that  in  the  Senate  it  received  the  support  and 
votes  of  the  ablest  constitutional  lawyers  who  are 
members  of  that  body.  If  I,  a  layman,  should 
hesitate  to  take  their  opinion,  I  should  only  con- 
vict myself  of  rashness  and  presumption. 

Third.  I  am  a  lifelong  Eepublican,  a  strict 
party  man,  who  has  had  and  still  has  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future  of 
that  great  party.  Still  I  am  not  of  those  who 
believe  that  in  so  important,  so  solemn,  so  vital 
a  proceeding  as  is  intrusted  to  the  committee  by 
this  bill,  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  who 
are  to  take  part  in  it  will  be  actuated  by  partisan 
considerations.  I  do  not  even  dare  to  entertain 
the  belief  that  the  other  members  of  the  committee, 
in  the  face  of  their  grave  and  awful  responsibili- 
ties, will  act  as  partisans.  I  should  be  ashamed 
of  myself  and  of  my  American  citizenship  if  I 
cherished  such  suspicions.  I  grieve  to  think  that 
there  are  any  who  are  willing  to  impute  such 
base  motives  to  the  eminent  men  who  must  com- 
pose this  commission.  If  our  cause  is  just,  we, 
as  Republicans,  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
grand  inquest  of  this  tribunal.  They  will  deal 

80 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

justly  and  honestly.  If  our  claim  is  false;  if  our 
title  to  the  Presidency  is  not  true,  I  trust  there 
is  no  Kepublican  in  the  land  so  base  as  to  desire 
such  a  lease  of  power. 

Fourth.  The  voice  of  the  people  of  the  country 
favors  and  demands  the  passage  of  this  bill.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  of  the  business  and  commercial 
interests  of  the  nation;  and  they  it  is  who  com- 
prise the  great  majority  of  the  thinking,  working, 
patriotic  people  of  the  land.  Every  property 
owner,  merchant,  trader,  banker,  farmer,  mechanic 
or  laborer  is  personally  interested  in  having  a 
peaceful  settlement  of  this  difficulty,  which  is  de- 
pressing values,  paralyzing  trade,  retarding  in- 
dustries, and  destroying  that  confidence  which  is 
the  foundation  of  business  enterprise  and  pros- 
perity. They  want  peace,  they  want  prosperity, 
and  they  do  not  for  a  moment  cherish  the  thought 
that  they  are  securing  it  thus  through  compro- 
mise or  dishonor. 

Some  of  us,  and  many  people  outside  these 
walls,  have  honest  fears  of  civil  war  unless  some 
such  amicable  settlement  as  this  bill  provides  is 
adopted.  I  do  not  care  to  express  my  own  opin- 
ions on  this  subject;  but  all  will  agree  that,  short 
of  <?ivil  war,  no  greater  calamity  could  befall  our 
country  than  to  inaugurate  a  President  about 
whose  title  to  the  office  a  considerable  part  of  the 
people,  including  a  portion  of  the  Republican 
party,  felt  a  doubt.  Such  a  doubt,  even  if  it  did 
not  provoke  resistance  to  his  authority,  would  yet 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

maintain  a  condition  of  uncertainty  and  dissatis- 
faction throughout  the  country  which  would  be 
unendurable ;  because  it  would  paralyze  all  indus- 
try, intensify  prevalent  distress,  and  prevent  en- 
tirely that  revival  of  enterprise  and  commerce 
which  we  so  sadly  need,  and  to  which,  I  believe,  we 
may  hopefully  look  forward,  if  we  can  but  secure 
a  contented  acceptance  of  the  result  of  the  Presi- 
dential election.  Such  a  result  this  bill  will  surely 
give  us.  I  for  one  declare  here  and  now  that  I 
am  ready  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  this  pro- 
posed tribunal  if  this  bill  shall  become  a  law;  to 
accept  its  verdict,  whatever  it  may  be — philo- 
sophically and  patriotically  if  against  my  own 
convictions  and  hopes ;  gratefully  and  joyously  if 
it  shall  firmly  establish  the  right  and  title  to  the 
Presidential  office  of  that  brave  soldier  and  true 
patriot,  Eutherford  B.  Hayes. 

I  hope  for  the  passage  of  the  bill,  because  it  will 
avert  from  us,  as  a  nation,  a  great  calamity,  and 
because,  by  adopting  this  settlement,  we  may  hope 
to  strengthen  and  continue  the  proud  career  of 
the  Eepublican  party,  prolong  the  peaceful  life 
of  the  nation,  perpetuate  the  existence  of  orderly 
and  law-abiding  liberty,  and  set  an  example  to 
the  world  of  which  our  children  and  children's 
children  may  well  be  proud — an  example  which 
will  elevate  us  in  the  opinions  of  all  good  men 
everywhere,  and  show  us  to  be  a  nation  of  free 
men,  truly  capable  of  self-government,  because 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

capable  of  self-restraint,  patience  and  forbearance 
under  the  greatest  dangers  and  difficulties. 

After  a  prolonged  and  bitter  partisan  quarrel, 
the  report  of  the  inquiry  substantiated  the  allega- 
tions of  astounding  Democratic  ballot  stuffing,  dis- 
franchisement  and  cooked  returns.  The  Electoral 
Commission,  by  a  vote  of  8  to  7,  declared  Hayes 
and  Wheeler  to  have  honestly  secured  185  electoral 
votes,  as  against  184  for  Tilden  and  Hendricks. 
Therefore,  they  were  declared  elected. 

Frenzied  Tilden  devotees  renewed  their  threats 
of  using  artillery,  if  necessary,  to  blow  their  fa- 
vorite into  the  White  House.  But  Grant  had 
artillery  and  soldiers,  too,  at  Washington.  Hayes 
and  Wheeler  were  sworn  in,  and  the  much  dreaded 
revolution  gradually  vanished. 

SUGGESTED  FOB  POSTMASTER-GENERAL 

Senator  Conkling,  some  time  before  President 
Hayes  took  the  oath  of  office,  suggested  me  for 
Postmaster-General.  Hayes  rather  contemptu- 
ously declined  to  entertain  the  proposition.  In- 
stead, he,  on  the  very  threshold  of  his  administra- 
tion, delivered  a  straight-arm  blow  at  the  regular 
organization  in  our  State  by  appointing,  without 
consultation  with  it  or  its  leaders,  William  M. 
Evarts  Secretary  of  State. 

Hayes  followed  this  up  by  inaugurating  a  sys- 
tematic and  inexcusable  warfare  upon  every  Em- 

83 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

pire  State  leader  who  had  supported  Conkling  at 
Cincinnati. 

REVOLT  AGAINST   HAYES 

The  revolt  came  because  it  was  inevitable.  Lead- 
ers and  members  of  the  rank  and  file,  who  had  fol- 
lowed the  fortunes  of  the  party  since  its  birth, 
raged  at  the  President  for  awarding  the  most 
desirable  Federal  places  to  men  who  had  not  only 
been  disloyal  to  him  and  the  party,  but  who  had 
been  lifelong  Democrats. 

Not  content  with  insulting  the  organization  by 
the  appointment  of  its  arch-enemy,  Evarts.  to  the 
most  distinguished  seat  in  his  Cabinet,  Hayes 
sought  to  oust  Chester  A.  Arthur,  Collector,  and 
Alonzo  B.  Cornell,  Naval  Officer  of  the  Port  of 
New  York.  Both  had  been  placed  in  office  by 
President  Grant.  The  President  tried  to  supplant 
these  excellent  officials  with  Theodore  Eoosevelt, 
father  of  the  man  who  afterward  became  Presi- 
dent, and  L.  Bradford  Prince,  both  of  whom  were 
bitter  opponents  of  the  organization.  We  saw  to 
it  that  the  President's  plan  was  foiled.  The  Sen- 
ate refused  to  confirm  the  nominations  of  either 
Eoosevelt  or  Prince  by  such  a  large  majority  that 
Hayes  was  forced  to  temporarily  quit  this  method 
©f  lopping  off  the  heads  of  faithful  Republican 
soldiers.  But  he  called  into  consultation  George 
William  Curtis  and  others  of  our  foes.  Between 
them,  there  was  evolved  the  impossible  civil  serv- 
ice "reform"  system,  which  we  at  once  accepted 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

as  inaugurated  for  the  sole  purpose  of  disrupting 
the  party  in  our  State. 

Organization  Eepublicans  voiced  their  resent- 
ment at  the  Rochester  convention  in  1877.  I  was 
chairman  of  the  State  committee,  and  was  as- 
signed by  that  committee  to  act  as  temporary  con- 
vention chairman.  It  was  at  this  convention  that 
the  original  "Big  Four"  was  established.  It  con- 
sisted of  Roscoe  Conkling,  Chester  A.  Arthur, 
Alonzo  B.  Cornell  and  myself. 

The  convention  scorched  Hayes  unmercifully. 
By  resolution  and  speech  it  avowed  that  there 
was  no  reason  for  maintaining  the  Republican 
party  unless  it  could  be  assured  of  sympathy  and 
cooperation  from  the  Republican  administration  at 
Washington. 

Conkling  was  rarely  in  more  superb  form  than 
at  Rochester.  I  can  see  him  now,  pacing  up  and 
down  the  aisle,  hurling  barbed  epithets  at  Hayes, 
and  clothing  Curtis  with  sobriquets  like  the  ' '  Man 
Milliner,"  which  stuck  to  Hayes'  adviser  to  his 
dying  day.  I  delivered  myself  of  a  few  pertinent 
remarks,  which  I  was  informed  did  not  add  to 
the  President's  affection  for  me. 

I  EXCOKIATE  HAYES 

I  here  reproduce  extracts  from  a  speech  which 
friends  have  said  is  the  best  I  ever  made: 

I  thank  you  most  heartily  for  the  distinguished 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

honor  of  being  chosen  to  preside  over  your  pre- 
liminary deliberations.  When  I  look  around  over 
this  assemblage  of  the  representatives  of  the  Re- 
publican party  of  the  Empire  State,  and  observe 
so  many  who  are  older,  wiser,  more  experienced 
and  more  deserving ;  statesmen  who  have  honored 
the  party  as  well  as  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  councils  of  the  commonwealth  and  of  the  na- 
tion; soldiers  whose  prowess  and  patriotism  pre- 
served us  in  the  hour  of  the  country's  peril,  I  am 
disposed  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  your  choice  and 
the  propriety  of  my  acceptance.  Still,  believing 
as  I  do,  no  special  significance  is  intended  by  your 
action  beyond  personal  considerations,  I  accept 
your  choice  and  assume  the  duties.  I  take  it  to 
be  your  purpose  to  make  a  recognition  of  the 
radical  working  and  fighting  soldiers  of  our  po- 
litical army,  who  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat 
of  the  day  ever  since  it  was  organized.  I  may 
not  deserve  the  distinction  of  representing  that 
Old  Guard  of  the  Eepublican  hosts,  but  it  is  my 
pride  and  my  boast  that  from  the  birthday  of  the 
Eepublican  party,  to  its  attainment  of  what  is  sup- 
posed to  be  its  "  years  of  discretion, "  there  has 
not  been  a  campaign  that  has  not  found  me  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  battle.  There  has  not  been 
an  election,  either  national,  State — and  I  may  also 
say  local— that  I  have  not  stood  at  the  polls  from 
sunrise  to  sunset,  and  fought  without  weariness 
or  rest  for  the  ticket,  the  whole  ticket,  and  noth- 
ing but  the  straight  Eepublican  ticket.  (Applause.) 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Up  to  the  present  moment  I  never  voted  other 
than  the  straight  Republican  ticket. 

This  zeal  was  born  of  a  deep  and  absorbing 
faith  in  the  righteousness  of  our  cause  and  the 
immortality  of  our  principles.  That  faith  still 
lives,  and  animates  the  hearts  of  the  live  Repub- 
licans of  our  State.  From  the  Hudson  to  the 
Lakes,  that  faith  indignantly  spurns  the  thought 
that  "the  mission  of  the  Republican  party  is  ac- 
complished. ' '  That  faith  grieves  because  the  glori- 
ous achievements  of  the  war  are  in  danger  of  being 
annulled  by  Southern  artifice  and  Northern  sen- 
timentalism.  That  faith  still  boldly  asserts  and 
declares  that  with  Republican  sentiment  of  the 
State  thoroughly  aroused  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  impending  danger,  with  complete  organization, 
and  with  a  unanimous  determination  here  and 
everywhere  to  win  the  fight,  even  in  this  off  year, 
the  State  of  New  York  can  be  redeemed. 
(Applause.) 

THE   PAKTY   IN   DANGER 

That  there  are  a  few  men  claiming  to  be  Re- 
publicans, and  even  holding  high  places,  who  are 
conniving  at  the  dissolution  of  the  Republican 
party,  is  a  most  lamentable  thought.  They  are  the 
very  virtuous  statesmen  who  are  credited  with  the 
opinion  that  ' i  there  is  no  such  thing  as  politics  at 
the  present  time";  that  "the  people  are  tired  of 
politics";  that  "they  want  party  lines  obliter- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

a  ted."  One  glance  at  the  past  political  record  of 
all  such  demagogues  will  show  them  to  be  men 
who  never  had  any  honest,  abiding  Republican 
convictions.  Some  of  them  may  be  found  among 
the  illustrious  spirits  who  aided  Andrew  Johnson 
in  carrying  the  Constitution  and  the  American 
flag  during  his  brief  career.  Others  were  so 
"weary  of  politics"  that  they  labored  to  elevate 
to  the  Gubernatorial  chair  that  prince  of  non- 
partisans,  Samuel  J.  Tilden.  (Ironical  laughter.) 
I  venture  the  opinion  that  any  professed  Republi- 
can who  now  pronounces  in  favor  of  disregarding 
party  lines,  means  one  of  three  purposes ;  namely, 
the  destruction  of  his  own  party,  the  advancement 
of  the  Democratic  party,  or — what  is  quite  as 
probable — the  foundation  of  a  new  party.  It  is 
cause  for  congratulation,  however,  that  the  num- 
ber of  these  political  Pecksniffs  and  tricksters  is 
not  large  and  their  influence  is  limited.  The  great 
Republican  masses  are  sound  and  true.  They  be- 
lieve in  the  necessity  for  the  existence  of  the  Re- 
publican party  as  earnestly  as  they  did  in  1860, 
and  mean  to  maintain  its  existence.  They  have 
confidence  in  their  old  leaders  and  mean  to  stand 
by  them.  Could  any  stronger  proof  be  asked  that 
the  heart  of  the  loyal  people  beats  true  and  warm 
to  their  old  convictions  and  affections  than  the 
pride  and  pleasure  universally  manifested  over 
the  generous  tributes  of  admiration  and  respect 
which  the  Old  World  has  been  paying  to  the  sol- 
dier and  statesman,  Ulysses  S.  Grant?  (Here  I 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

had  to  be  dumb  for  nearly  ten  minutes,  so  uproari- 
ous was  the  demonstration  for  Grant.)  We  all 
glory  in  the  fact  that  this  modest,  silent,  sensible 
Eepublican  President,  who  was  always  true  to 
his  friends,  his  party  and  his  country,  is  the  re- 
cipient of  an  unending  series  of  honors  and 
ovations  such  as  no  American  citizen  ever  before 
received.  His  triumphs  are  our  triumphs. 
(Applause.) 

CIVIL   SERVICE   REFORM 

There  is  one  subject  of  political  discussion  whicH 
demagogues  have  magnified  unto  unseemly  propor- 
tions. I  refer  to  the  incessant  cry  which  is  raised 
that  "the  Eepublican  party  is  pledged  to  reform 
in  the  civil  service. "  Hungry  expectants  of  office 
stand  on  street  corners  and  shout  the  shibboleth 
till  they  are  hoarse  and  weary.  The  independent 
journalist  rolls  it  as  a  sweet  morsel  under 
his  tongue,  and  daily  blurts  it  in  the  face  of  a 
nauseated  public.  (Slight  applause  and  hisses.) 
The  Sitting  Bulls  and  Crazy  Horses  of  the  Tam- 
many tribes  incorporate  it  in  their  war-whoops, 
and  are  persistent  in  demanding  that  the  most 
radical  schemes  for  the  readjustment  of  the  pub- 
lic service  should  be  rigidly  enforced  against  all 
Eepublicans.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
Eepublican  party  is  pledged  to  integrity  in  the 
civil  service;  and  I  know  of  no  good  Eepublican 
who  does  not  intend  that  it  shall  faithfully  fulfil 
its  pledges.  Our  disagreement,  if  there  be  any,  is 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

involved  in  the  methods  of  accomplishing  the  ob- 
ject. As  I  understand  the  case,  the  Eepublican 
party  is  not  pledged  to  any  plan  of  civil  service 
reform  which  is  not  practical  in  its  bearings  and 
general  in  its  application,  equally  applicable  to 
every  State  of  the  Union,  and  every  department  of 
the  Government ;  as  binding  upon  the  Cabinet  offi- 
cer as  upon  the  tide-waiter;  as  earnestly  opposed 
to  political  favoritism  in  high  places  as  well  as 
in  the  low.  The  Eepublican  party  is  not  pledged 
to  any  system  of  civil  service  reform  which 
abridges,  in  any  degree,  the  rights  guaranteed  to 
every  American  citizen  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  the  laws.  The  Eepublican  party 
is  not  pledged  to  any  plan  of  civil  service  reform 
which  most  practical  men  are  sincere  in  believing 
will  demoralize  and  destroy  the  organization  and 
result  in  the  triumphs  of  that  old  party  of  spoils 
and  plunder,  whose  past  career  and  present  course, 
wherever  it  holds  sway,  denominate  it  to  be  the 
inveterate  foe  of  reform. 

(Those  who  have  recently  read  the  speech  re- 
mark: "Did  you  deliver  it  to-day,  you  would 
apply  its  lashes  to  Hughes. ") 

Practical  reform  was  what  was  promised,  and 
that  alone  is  what  the  country  demands — the  same 
kind  of  methods  which  the  business  man  would 
adopt  for  the  regulation  of  his  factory,  or  the  rail- 
road superintendent  for  the  management  of  his 
employees.  Make  heads  of  bureaus  responsible  for 
the  efficiency  of  their  departments,  and  permit 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

them  to  select  their  own  subordinates.  Appoint 
men  to  office  who  are  honest,  capable  and  faithful ; 
promote  only  for  merit  and  remove  only  for  cause. 
By  some  sensible  system,  honestly  and  rigidly  en- 
forced, our  pledges  will  be  fulfilled,  and  the  civil 
service  improved  and  the  party  strengthened. 

THE  SOUTHERN  QUESTION 

It  would  be  worse  than  folly  to  attempt  to  dis- 
guise the  disagreeable  fact  to  which  I  have  before 
made  allusion,  that  the  present  is  a  most  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  our  party.  The  clouds 
which  obscure  the  horizon  are  black  and  threaten- 
ing, and  the  friends  of  freedom  have  good  cause 
for  doubt  and  despondency.  The  chief  cause  for 
discouragement  is  found  in  the  perilous  situation 
of  political  affairs  in  the  South.  For  the  first  time 
since  the  war,  we  are  confronted  with  the  stern 
reality  of  the  Southern  States  in  solid  phalanx  for 
the  support  of  their  political  confederates,  the 
Democratic  party.  We  behold  the  Republican  or- 
ganization in  nearly  every  Southern  State  demora- 
lized, paralyzed  and  practically  crushed  out.  The 
promised  disintegration  of  the  Democratic  hosts, 
which  was  to  follow  a  liberal  distribution  of  Fed- 
eral offices,  and  a  policy  confiding  and  effusive,  is 
far  in  the  dim  future.  It  requires  no  gift  of  second 
sight  to  discern  that,  even  with  the  widest  divisions 
of  the  dominant  party  in  the  South,  no  resurrection 
there  of  any  party  by  the  name  of  Republican  is 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

within  the  range  of  probability.  To-day  the  Hamp- 
tons, Hills  and  Lamars  will  caress  the  hands  that 
restore  them  to  power,  but  vote  the  Democratic 
to-morrow  and  forever.  They  publicly  praise  a 
Eepublican  President  because,  as  they  express  it, 
"he  has  done  all  that  Mr.  Tilden  could  have  done" 
to  comfort  and  reconcile  them;  and  still,  I  fear, 
will  persist  in  the  persecution  of  loyal  citizens 
and  Eepublicans.  (I  referred  to  President  Hayes' 
supplanting  in  office  sterling  Eepublicans  with 
rabid  Democrats.) 

The  South  is  too  shrewd  to  suffer  itself  to  be 
divided,  either  by  official  inducements  or  concilia- 
tory caresses.  They  clearly  appreciate  the  fact 
that  Democratic  success  in  the  next  national  cam- 
paign means  a  restoration  of  Southern  supremacy 
in  the  nation.  They  are  human;  they  are  cun- 
ning; they  are  solid,  and  I  fear  will  remain  so. 
But,  fellow  Eepublicans,  all  this  only  demonstrates 
the  vital  importance  of  maintaining  and  perpetu- 
ating the  Eepublican  party  in  the  North.  It  is  no 
time  to  relax  or  despond.  Do  not  dream  for  a 
moment  that  the  mission  of  the  Eepublican  party 
is  ended,  or  confess  that  we  do  not  possess  the 
strength  and  vigor  to  cope  successfully  with  our 
old  adversary. 

It  is  of  paramount  importance  that  New  York 
should  be  restored  to  her  former  proud  position 
of  Eepublican  supremacy.  It  can  be  done.  The 
Eepublicans  of  the  Empire  State  always  have 
shown  themselves  equal  to  every  great  emergency. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Let  every  man  of  us  take  home  the  consequences 
which  Democratic  success  involves.  Let  us  bear 
in  mind  that  New  York  will  be  needed  to  avert 
national  disaster.  As  goes  New  York,  so  goes  the 
Union.  What  we  do  now  and  here  is  not  for  a 
day,  but  for  all  time.  We  can  afford  to  be  mod- 
erate; we  can  afford  to  be  magnanimous. 

Let  us  sink  self  and  save  the  country.  Let  us 
forget  all  differences,  bury  our  animosities  and 
strike  hands  as  in  the  good  old  days  of  yore  against 
the  common  enemy,  for  the  public  good.  Let  us 
build  a  platform  strong  enough  and  broad  enough 
to  hold  all  the  Republicans  and  to  command  the 
confidence  of  good  men  of  all  parties.  Let  us 
make  a  ticket  of  men  whose  past  lives  and  records 
are  guarantees  to  all  people  of  honest  administra- 
tion and  lofty  patriotism. 

Curtis  and  other  Hayes  zealots  were,  through- 
out the  1877  campaign,  unmercifully  execrated  by 
the  Republican  anti-administration  newspapers  of 
the  State.  Somehow  or  other  I  was  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  caricatures  of  Curtis  and  Hayes  in  the 
Elmira  Advertiser,  October  6,  1877. 


Once  upon  a  time,  a  smart  boy  named  Curtis, 
who  parted  his  hair  in  the  middle  like  a  girl,  and 
lived  in  a  nice  house,  which  had  a  snug  front  yard 
with  a  high  picket  fence  around  it,  used  to  spend 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

his  leisure  hours  in  amusing  himself  by  throwing 
stones  at  the  passers-by. 

Three  or  four  maiden  aunts  and  a  fond  mother 
and  a  grandmother  or  two,  all  sat  in  the  parlors 
of  this  nice  house,  and  with  nods  of  approval  en- 
couraged the  boy  Curtis  in  his  pastime  of  throw- 
ing stones  at  the  passers,  especially  as  he  sought 
to  hit  a  tanner  boy  named  Grant,  and  a  red-headed 
boy  named  Conkling,  whose  business  frequently 
brought  them  down  that  street,  and  which  boys 
were  disliked  by  the  prim  and  self-satisfied  women 
who  sat  in  the  parlors. 

One  day,  young  Curtis  having  grown  bold  by 
the  encouragement  of  a  new  policeman  in  the 
neighborhood,  named  Hayes,  went  out  on  the 
street,  away  some  distance  from  the  high  picket 
fence  and  the  protection  of  his  women  folks.  He 
espied  the  boy  Conkling  coming  along,  and  thought 
he  would  just  "shy"  one  stone  at  his  old  acquaint- 
ance, and  trust  to  the  high  fence,  the  women  folks 
and  the  new  policeman  for  protection. 

But  as  ill  luck  would  have  it,  Conkling  caught 
the  smart,  nice  boy  before  he  could  reach  the 
gate  to  the  front  yard,  or  the  new  policeman  came 
up,  and  gave  young  Curtis  a  most  unmerciful  flog- 
ging, so  that  he  presented  a  forlorn  and  dilapi- 
dated appearance.  Young  Curtis,  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  up  out  of  the  mud  where  Conkling  had 
left  him,  ran  into  the  front  yard  with  a  bloody  nose 
and  a  black  eye,  and  set  up  a  terrible  yelling,  which 
brought  to  the  door  all  the  women  folks  of  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

nice  house,  including  aunts,  mothers  and  grand- 
mothers, who  likewise  set  np  a  howl  and  wail  of 
anguish  at  the  sad  plight  of  their  young  prodigy. 

They  all  declared  it  was  an  outrage  to  allow  such 
awful  boys  as  Conkling  to  come  down  their  street. 
Nothing  will  satisfy  the  injured  feelings  of  these 
offended  females  and  restore  the  boy  Curtis  to 
good  nature,  unless  the  neighboring  women  assist 
them  in  holding  indignation  meetings,  passing 
resolutions  against  the  boy  Conkling,  and  deliver- 
ing scolding  speeches  at  the  passers-by. 

The  indignation  and  scolding  meetings  are  still 
going  on,  and  Curtis,  with  a  doleful  whine  and 
bandaged  hand  and  face,  still  sits  like  a  young 
martyr  in  the  front  yard ;  but  Conkling,  the  red- 
headed boy,  passes  along  the  street  whistling  live- 
ly tunes,  but  unmolested  either  by  boy  or  women 
on  the  other  side  of  the  high  picket  fence;  and 
even  the  new  policeman,  Hayes,  has  as  yet  taken 
no  notice  of  the  outrageous  flogging  administered 
by  Conkling  to  Curtis.  So  mote  it  be. 

Two  years  later,  in  1879,  despite  continued  at- 
tacks of  the  Hayes  administration  upon  the  State 
organization,  and  with  the  help  of  the  John  Kelly- 
Tammany  Hall  bolt  against  the  renomination  of 
Governor  Lucius  Eobinson,  we  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing Alonzo  B.  Cornell  Governor.  The  entire  Re- 
publican State  ticket  was  elected,  and  the  party 
held  a  majority  in  the  Legislature  for  the  first 
period  since  war  times. 

;v;         95 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


HAYES  A  PHOTOTYPE  OF  GOVEKNOB  HUGHES 

Hayes  was  quite  a  prototype  of  Governor 
Hughes,  though  his  flowing  whiskers  were  of  a 
more  blond  hue.  He  was  a  good  deal  of  the  same 
physical  build  and  mental  temperament.  Though 
nominated  and  elected  as  a  Republican,  he  sought 
to  forget  it  in  office.  He  had  strong  convictions 
but  narrow  views,  on  a  narrow  basis.  He  was  not 
enough  of  a  politician  to  swim  out  when  he  found 
himself  in  deep  water.  He  was  the  first  President 
to  claim  that  he  was  better  than  his  party.  And 
yet  no  man  was  ever  so  much  indebted  to  a  party 
as  he.  He  was  made  President  because  of  the  great 
fight  conducted  by  his  party  managers  to  secure 
the  electoral  votes  of  Louisiana,  Florida  and  South 
Carolina,  after  they  had  been  stolen  for  Tilden. 
After  he  got  in  by  the  votes  of  these  States,  he 
betrayed  the  Eepublican  State  governments  to  the 
Democrats  by  undoing  the  Reconstruction  acts  of 
President  Grant  and  the  Federal  Government.  I 
have  said  that  temperamentally  he  reminded  me 
of  Hughes.  But  he  did  not  possess  the  intellec- 
tuality of  the  present  Governor  of  New  York.  He 
had  a  habit  of  receiving  you  courteously,  doing 
all  the  talking,  and  then  telling  people  that  you 
agreed  with  everything  he  said.  Some  Eepublican 
leaders  have  regretted  very  much  that  they  ever 
fought  to  seat  Hayes.  I  should  have  regretted 
my  part  in  this  but  for  the  fact  that  I  ever  desired 
that  the  Republican  party  should  win,  even  if  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

representative  of  that  party  chose  to  prove 
recreant  and  ungrateful. 

Like  Hughes,  Hayes  accepted  the  bounty  of  his 
party,  and  then  refused  to  recognize  any  obliga- 
tions to  that  party.  George  William  Curtis  was 
his  guiding  star.  Hayes  retired  with  the  friend- 
ship of  few  except  those  who  had  fought  the  party 
inside  and  outside.  He  was  rarely  heard  of  after 
he  turned  the  Presidency  over  to  Garfield,  except 
when  the  newspapers  printed  stories  about  his 
chicken-farm. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  Hayes  regime,  I  became 
secretary  and  director  and  then  president  of  the 
U.  S.  Express  Company.  I  had  practically  made 
up  my  mind  never  again  to  hold  public  office,  when 
Governor  Cornell  insisted  that  I  become  president 
of  the  Board  of  Quarantine  Commissioners.  As 
then  constituted,  it  was  a  powerful  body,  and  I 
unwillingly  accepted  a  place  on  it,  with  the  under- 
standing that  I  should  go  on  with  my  private 
business. 


97 


JAMES  A.   GARPIELD 

98 


CHAPTER  V 
1879-1880 

A  "  Three-Hundred-and-Sixer" — Why  I  supported 
Grant  for  a  third  term — Gallant  but  fruitless 
struggle  of  followers  of  the  "  Appomattox 
Hero" — How  Gar  field  and  Arthur  were  nomi- 
nated— Spectacular  incidents  of  the  Chicago 
convention. 

So  UNPOPULAE  had  the  Hayes  administration  be- 
come with  the  Bepublicans  in  New  York  in  1879, 
that  they  determined  to  oppose  the  President  for 
renomination.  Our  State  convention,  believing  that 
General  Grant  had  proved  a  splendid  Executive 
for  two  terms,  and  that  Hayes  had  proved  an  un- 
worthy one,  instructed  the  delegation  to  Chicago 
in  1880  to  fight  first,  last  and  all  the  time  for 
Grant. 

Here  let  me  say  that  I  formed  a  tender  friend- 
ship for  General  Grant  from  the  day  I  met  him 
first  personally  in  the  early  seventies,  while  I  was 
serving  in  Congress. 

GRANT,  WARRIOR  AND  PEACEMAKER 

General  Grant  was  just  of  below  medium  height. 
He  was  of  stocky  build  and  broad-shouldered. 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Iron  jaws  and  rigid  lips  exemplified  indomitable 
pluck,  grim  courage  and  determination.  A  beard, 
usually  cropped  close,  hair  sprinkled  with  silvery 
strands,  steady,  piercing  eyes,  a  Roman  nose,  the 
nostrils  dilating  when  the  man  was  aroused,  char- 
acterized his  personal  appearance. 

Grant  cared  little  for  dress.  As  in  the  army  he 
preferred  to  forget  gold  lace  and  epaulets,  and  go 
about  in  a  careless  uniform  and  dilapidated  slouch 
hat,  so  even  as  President  he  wore  the  plainest 
clothing.  Frequently  have  I  known  him  to  jam 
the  omnipresent  big  black  cigar  between  his  teeth, 
slip  out  of  the  White  House  by  a  back  exit,  and 
pace  alone  for  miles  up  and  down  sequestered 
Washington  streets,  endeavoring  to  solve  the  great 
problems  of  state  confronting  him.  Though  I  al- 
ways found  Grant  approachable  and  courteous,  he 
talked  little  except  in  monosyllables,  listened  in- 
tently, carefully  analyzed  every  suggestion,  and 
having  once  made  up  his  mind,  all  the  king's  horses 
and  all  the  king's  men  could  not  swerve  him. 

He  was  the  most  modest,  unassuming  man  in 
high  station  I  can  recall.  He  was  grateful  as  a 
child,  trustful  of  and  devoted  to  friends,  hurt  to 
the  quick  if  they  proved  unworthy,  and  perhaps 
of  too  forgiving  spirit  in  the  treatment  of  his  tra- 
ducers.  He  was  great  and  magnanimous  as  com- 
mander of  the  Union  armies,  greater  as  President, 
and  as  a  citizen  of  the  Republic  shone  with  a  luster 
that  challenged  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

No  wonder  Grant  is  immortalized ! 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

My  friend,  General  James  S.  Clarkson,  thus 
bears  testimony  to  my  services  to  General  Grant 
when,  in  1884,  the  former  President  was  suffering 
mental  agony : 

1 1  Platt  was  taken  deeply  into  the  confidence  and 
friendship  of  President  Grant — a  friendship  that 
lasted  until  General  Grant 's  death.  And  it  showed 
itself  as  having  been  safely  reposed  when,  in  the 
troublous  days  of  the  great  soldier  and  his  sons, 
in  their  financial  fiasco  in  New  York,  Mr.  Platt 
came  to  their  help  and  saved  them  all  from  hu- 
miliation and  injury  that  time  itself  could  never 
have  cured,  nor  the  official  power  of  the  nation 
averted.  This  version  came  to  the  writer  direct 
from  General  Grant  himself  during  close  party 
association  in  the  campaign  for  Elaine  in  1884,  one 
of  the  darkest  and  saddest  years  in  the  general's 
history ;  when  poverty  was  at  his  door,  and  himself 
and  his  deeds  apparently  forgotten  by  the 
American  people. 

"In  conversation  then,  the  great  hero,  who  had 
early  seen  the  worth  of  Mr.  Platt  and  taken  him 
to  his  heart  as  a  friend,  said  he  had  received  such 
help  from  Mr.  Platt  as  he  had  never  received  from 
any  one  in  his  whole  life.  This  faithfulness  to 
friendship  in  loyal  response  to  friendship,  early 
shown  to  him,  continued  in  its  help  to  the  sons 
after  the  general's  death  in  such  measure  as  they 
only  know." 


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WE  FIGHT  AND  LOSE  FOB  GRANT 

There  is  no  public  act  of  which  I  am  prouder 
than  of  having  been  a  member  of  the  famous  band 
of  " Three  Hundred  and  Six,"  who  fought  and 
lost  because  of  their  devotion  to  the  chief  magis- 
trate who  served  so  admirably  from  1869  to  1873. 
As  in  the  State  convention  of  1877,  so  in  the  Na- 
tional convention  of  1880,  Koscoe  Conkling  was  a 
colossal  and  commanding  figure.  One  of  his  first 
acts  in  that  convention  was  to  offer  a  resolution 
which  had  been  urged  by  the  New  York  delega- 
tion, and  which  ran  like  this : 

Resolved:  As  the  sense  of  this  convention,  that 
every  member  of  it  is  bound  in  honor  to  support 
the  nominee,  whoever  that  nominee  may  be;  and 
that  no  man  should  hold  a  seat  here  who  is  not 
ready  so  to  agree. 

This  of  course  was  aimed  at  certain  Hayes  dele- 
gates, who  had  openly  threatened  to  bolt  Grant 
in  case  he  were  nominated.  The  late  Senator 
George  F.  Hoar,  who  was  in  the  chair,  had 
just  declared  the  resolution  adopted,  when  Mr. 
Brandegee,  of  Connecticut,  expressed  doubt  and 
demanded  a  roll  call  of  States. 

Senator  Conkling  sarcastically  said:  "Plainly 
and  audibly  to  me  and  to  others,  negative  votes 
were  given  on  this  resolution.  I  ask  the  chair  to 
call  the  roll,  that  we  may  know  who  it  is  in  Ee- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

publican  convention  that  votes  'No'  on  such  a 
pledge. " 

The  roll  call  disclosed  716  votes  for  the  Conkling 
resolution,  and  only  3  against. 

Senator  Conkling  then  submitted  this  resolution : 

That  the  delegates  who  have  voted  that  they  will 
not  abide  the  action  of  the  convention  do  not  de- 
serve and  have  forfeited  their  votes  in  this  con- 
vention. 

GARFIELD   THE   DARK    HORSE 

The  three  negative  votes  on  the  previous  resolu- 
tion had  been  cast  by  West  Virginia.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, of  that  State,  vigorously  protested  against 
the  second  resolution.  General  James  A.  Garfield, 
of  Ohio,  who  eventually  was  the  nominee  for  Presi- 
dent, but  whose  name  had  hardly  been  whispered, 
was  quite  vehement  in  his  opposition. 

Senator  Conkling,  even  while  Garfield  was 
.speaking  against  the  resolution,  wrote  a  note 
reading : 

1 1 1  congratulate  you  upon  being  the  dark  horse. ' ' 

When  General  Garfield  ceased  speaking,  Conk- 
ling handed  the  note  to  John  D.  Lawson,  better 
known  as  ' l  Sitting  Bull, ' '  and  said :  ' '  Please  give 
this  to  General  Garfield." 

Conkling  had  thus  early  scented  defeat  for 
Grant  and  victory  for  Garfield.  But  we  Grant 
men  had  sworn  to  die  with  our  boots  on.  Conkling 
finally  consented  to  withdraw  the  second  resolu- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tion.  After  three  days  of  preliminary  wire-pulling 
and  skirmishing,  the  balloting  for  candidates  for 
President  began. 

Mr.  Joy  named  James  GL  Elaine,  of  Maine,  as 
the  choice  of  Michigan.  Messrs.  Pixley,  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  Frye,  of  Maine,  followed  with  seconds. 
Mr.  Drake  presented  the  name  of  William  Win- 
dom,  of  Minnesota.  When  Senator  Conkling  arose 
to  propose  Grant,  the  enthusiasm  became  tremen- 
dous and  overpowering.  Not  only  the  "  Three 
Hundred  and  Six,"  but  the  great  majority  of  spec- 
tators in  the  galleries  joined  in  a  demonstration 
that  was  simply  indescribable. 

Conkling  mounted  a  reporters'  table.  He  was 
in  magnificent  voice.  Those  in  the  most  distant 
corners  of  the  great  auditorium  distinctly  heard 
every  word  he  uttered. 

The  Senator  had  a  habit  of  clearly  pronouncing 
his  vowels.  That  made  it  easy  for  his  voice  to 
carry  a  long  distance.  As  the  speech  delivered  by 
Conkling  that  memorable  day  is  generally  accepted 
as  his  greatest  short  address,  it  is  worthy  of 
preservation. 

CONKLING  PRESENTS  GRANT 

There  was  pandemonium  that  continued  twenty 
minutes  when  Conkling  dramatically  began : 

When  asked  what  State  he  hails  from, 

Our  sole  reply  shall  be, 
He  comes  from  Appomattox, 

And  its  famous  apple  tree. 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  frenzied  cheering  that  greeted  this  senti- 
ment had  hardly  subsided  when  Senator  Conkling 
resumed : 

In  obedience  to  instructions  I  should  never  dare 
disregard,  expressing  also  my  own  firm  convic- 
tions, I  rise  to  propose  a  nomination  with  which 
the  country,  and  the  Eepublican  party,  can  grandly 
win. 

The  election  before  us  is  to  be  the  Austerlitz  of 
American  politics.  It  will  decide  for  many  years 
whether  the  country  shall  be  Eepublican  or  Cos- 
sack. The  supreme  need  of  the  hour  is  not  a 
candidate  who  can  carry  Michigan.  All  Eepubli- 
can candidates  can  do  that.  The  need  is  not  of  a 
candidate  who  is  popular  in  the  territories,  because 
they  have  no  votes.  The  need  is  of  a  candidate 
who  can  carry  the  doubtful  States — not  the  doubt- 
ful States  of  the  North  alone,  but  the  doubtful 
States  of  the  South,  which  we  have  heard,  if  I 
understand  it  aright,  ought  to  take  little  or  no 
part  here,  because  the  South  has  nothing  to  give, 
but  everything  to  receive. 

No,  gentlemen,  the  need  that  presses  upon  the 
conscience  of  the  convention  is  of  a  candidate 
who  can  carry  doubtful  States,  North  and  South. 
And  believing  that  he,  more  surely  than  any  other 
man,  can  carry  New  York  against  any  opponent, 
and  can  carry  not  only  the  North,  but  several 
States  of  the  South,  New  York  is  for  Ulysses  S. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Grant.  Never  defeated  in  peace  or  war,  his  name 
is  the  most  illustrious  borne  by  living  man. 

(There  was  an  outburst  of  mad  enthusiasm  at 
this  that  shook  the  convention  hall.) 

His  services  attest  his  greatness,  and  the  coun- 
try— nay,  the  world — knows  them  by  heart.  His 
fame  was  earned,  not  alone  in  things  written  and 
said,  but  by  the  arduous  greatness  of  things  done. 
And  perils  and  emergencies  will  search  in  vain 
in  the  future,  as  they  have  searched  in  vain  in  the 
past,  for  any  other  on  whom  the  nation  leans  with 
such  confidence  and  trust.  Never  having  had  a 
policy  to  enforce  against  the  will  of  the  people, 
he  never  betrayed  the  cause  of  a  friend ;  and  the 
people  will  never  desert  or  betray  him.  Standing 
on  the  highest  eminence  of  human  distinction,  mod- 
est, firm,  simple  and  self-poised,  having  filled  all 
lands  with  his  renown,  he  has  seen  not  only  the 
high-born  and  the  titled,  but  the  poor  and  the 
lowly  in  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth,  rise  and 
uncover  before  him.  He  has  studied  the  needs  and 
the  defects  of  many  systems  of  government,  and 
he  has  returned  a  better  American  than  ever,  with 
a  wealth  of  knowledge  and  experience  added  to 
the  hard  common  sense  which  shone  so  conspicu- 
ously in  all  the  fierce  light  that  beat  upon  him  dur- 
ing sixteen  years,  the  most  trying,  the  most  por- 
tentous, the  most  perilous  in  the  nation's  history. 

Vilified  and  reviled,  ruthlessly  aspersed  by  un- 
numbered presses,  not  in  other  lands,  but  in  his 
own,  assaults  upon  him  have  seasoned  and  strength- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ened  his  hold  upon  the  public  heart.  Calumny 's 
ammunition  has  all  been  exploded;  the  powder  has 
all  been  burned  once;  its  force  is  spent;  and  the 
name  of  Grant  will  glitter  a  bright  and  imperish- 
able star  in  the  diadem  of  the  Eepublic  when 
those  who  have  tried  to  tarnish  that  name  have 
moldered  in  forgotten  graves,  and  when  their  mem- 
ories and  their  epitaphs  ^have  vanished  utterly. 

(Conkling  had  in  mind  the  groundless  charges 
that  Grant  was  implicated  in  the  whisky  ring  and 
Star  Eoute  postal  frauds.) 

Never  elated  by  success,  never  depressed  by  ad- 
versity, he  has  ever,  in  peace  and  in  war,  shown 
the  genius  of  common  sense.  The  terms  he  pre- 
scribed for  Lee's  surrender  foreshadowed  the 
wisest  prophecies  and  principles  of  true  recon- 
struction. Victor  in  the  greatest  war  of  modern 
times,  he  quickly  signalized  his  aversion  to  war 
and  his  love  of  peace  by  an  arbitration  of  internal 
disputes,  which  stands  as  the  wisest,  the  most  ma- 
jestic example  of  its  kind  in  the  world's  diplomacy. 
When  inflation,  at  the  height  of  its  popularity  and 
frenzy,  had  swept  both  Houses  of  Congress,  it 
was  the  veto  of  Grant  which,  single  and  alone, 
overthrew  expansion  and  cleared  the  way  for 
specie  resumption.  To  him,  immeasurably  more 
than  to  any  other  man,  is  due  the  fact  that  every 
paper  dollar  is  at  last  as  good  as  gold. 

With  him  as  our  leader  we  shall  have  no  de- 
fensive campaign.  No!  We  shall  have  nothing 
to  explain  away.  We  shall  have  no  apologies  to 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

make.  The  shafts  and  the  arrows  have  all  been 
aimed  at  him,  and  they  lie  broken  and  harmless 
at  his  feet. 

Life,  liberty  and  property  will  find  a  safeguard 
in  him.  When  he  said  of  the  colored  men  in  Flor- 
ida, "  Wherever  I  am,  they  may  come  also" — when 
he  so  said,  he  meant  that,  had  he  the  power,  the 
poor  dwellers  in  the  cabins  of  the  South  should 
no  longer  be  driven  in  terror  from  the  homes  of 
their  childhood  and  the  graves  of  their  murdered 
dead.  When  he  refused  to  see  Dennis  Kearney 
in  California,  he  meant  that  communism,  lawless- 
ness and  disorder,  although  it  might  stalk  high- 
handed and  dictate  law  to  a  whole  city,  would  al- 
ways find  a  foe  in  him.  He  meant  that,  popular 
or  unpopular,  he  would  hew  to  the  line  of  right, 
let  the  chips  fly  where  they  may. 

His  integrity,  his  common  sense,  his  courage,  his 
unequaled  experience,  are  the  qualities  offered  to 
his  country.  The  only  argument,  the  only  one 
that  the  wit  of  man  or  the  stress  of  politics  has 
devised,  is  one  which  would  dumbfound  Solomon, 
because  he  thought  there  was  nothing  new  under 
the  sun.  Having  tried  Grant  twice  and  found  him 
faithful,  we  are  told  that  we  must  not,  even  after 
an  interval  of  years,  trust  him  again. 

My  countrymen!  my  countrymen!  what  stultifi- 
cation does  not  such  a  fallacy  involve !  The  Ameri- 
can people  excluded  Jefferson  Davis  from  public 
trust.  Why?  Why?  Because  he  was  the  arch- 
traitor  and  would-be  destroyer ;  and  now  the  same 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

people  are  asked  to  ostracize  Grant  and  not  to 
trust  him.  Why?  Why?  I  repeat:  because  he 
was  the  arch-preserver  of  his  country,  and  because, 
not  only  in  war,  but  twice  as  civil  magistrate,  he 
gave  his  highest,  noblest  efforts  to  the  Eepublic. 
Is  this  an  electioneering  juggle,  or  is  it  hypocrisy's 
masquerade?  There  is  no  field  of  human  activity, 
responsibility  or  reason  in  which  rational  beings 
object  to  an  agent  because  he  has  been  weighed 
in  the  balance  and  not  found  wanting.  There  is, 
I  say,  no  department  of  human  reason  in  which 
sane  men  reject  an  agent  because  he  has  had  ex- 
perience, making  him  exceptionally  competent  and 
fit.  From  the  man  who  shoes  your  horse,  to  the 
lawyer  who  tries  your  cause,  the  officer  who  man- 
ages your  railway  or  your  mill,  the  doctor  into 
whose  hands  you  give  your  life,  or  the  minister  who 
seeks  to  save  your  soul,  what  man  do  you  reject 
because  by  his  works  you  have  known  him  and 
found  him  faithful  and  fit !  What  makes  the  Presi- 
dential office  an  exception  to  all  things  else  in  the 
common  sense  to  be  applied  to  selecting  its  incum- 
bent? Who  dares — who  dares  to  put  fetters  on 
that  free  choice  and  judgment,  which  is  the  birth- 
right of  the  American  people?  Can  it  be  said  that 
Grant  has  used  official  power  and  place  to  per- 
petuate his  term?  He  has  no  place,  and  official 
power  has  not  been  used  for  him.  Without  patron- 
age and  without  emissaries,  without  committees, 
without  bureaux,  without  telegraph  wires  running 
from  his  house  to  this  convention,  or  running  from 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

his  house  anywhere  else,  this  man  is  the  candidate 
whose  friends  have  never  threatened  to  bolt  unless 
this  convention  said  as  they  said.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican  who  never  wavers.  He  and  his  friends  stand 
by  the  creed  and  the  candidates  of  the  Republican 
party.  They  hold  the  rightful  rule  of  the  ma- 
jority as  the  very  essence  of  their  faith,  and  they 
mean  to  uphold  that  faith  against,  not  only  the 
common  enemy,  but  against  the  charlatans,  jay 
hawkers,  tramps  and  guerillas — the  men  who  de- 
ploy between  the  lines  and  forage  now  on  one  side 
and  then  on  the  other.  (Again  did  Conkling  have 
Curtis  and  his  adherents  in  mind.) 

This  convention  is  master  of  a  supreme  oppor- 
tunity. It  can  name  the  next  President.  It  can 
make  sure  of  his  election.  It  can  make  sure  not 
only  of  his  election,  but  of  his  certain  and  peace- 
ful inauguration.  More  than  all,  it  can  break  that 
power  which  dominates  and  mildews  the  South. 
It  can  overthrow  an  organization  whose  very  ex- 
istence is  a  standing  protest  against  progress. 

The  purpose  of  the  Democratic  party  is  spoils. 
Its  very  hope  of  existence  is  the  solid  South.  Its 
success  is  a  menace  to  order  and  prosperity.  I 
say  this  convention  can  overthrow  that  power.  It 
can  speed  the  nation  in  a  career  of  grandeur, 
eclipsing  all  past  achievements. 

Gentlemen,  we  have  only  to  listen  above  the  din, 
and  look  beyond  the  dust  of  an  hour,  to  behold  the 
Republican  party,  advancing  with  its  ensign  re- 
splendent with  illustrious  achievements,  marching 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

to  certain  and  lasting  victory  with  its  greatest 
marshal  at  its  head. 

Ten  thousand  leathern-lunged  men  shouted  their 
acclaims  at  Conkling  as  he  retired. 

The  Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  in  commenting  on  the 
speech,  declared :  '  '  The  play  of  sarcasm,  the  flash 
of  scorn,  the  saber-cuts  of  severity,  and  all  the 
pageantry  of  eloquence  were  used  to  help  Grant. 
The  address  had  the  warmth,  the  eulogy,  the  finish 
of  a  poem,  the  force  and  fire  of  a  philippic.  Grant 
was  in  every  line  of  it.  His  spirit  breathed  in 
every  sentence,  his  personality  lived  and  moved 
in  the  smooth  insistence  of  the  magic  words,  and 
stood  revealed  in  the  climax  of  the  peroration. " 

Mr.  Bradley,  of  Kentucky,  afterward  Governor 
and  U.  S.  Senator,  seconded  the  nomination  of 
Grant  in  an  eloquent  address. 

Then  Garfield  presented  John  Sherman,  of 
Ohio. 

SHEKMAN,    THE   ICICLE 

Apropos  of  John  Sherman,  I  never  hear  his 
name  mentioned  but  I  recall  an  experience  I  had 
soon  after  he  published  a  book  in  which  he  said 
some  rather  hard  things  about  me.  Sherman  was 
popularly  regarded  as  a  human  icicle.  I  remem- 
bered this  one  day  when  I  very  reluctantly  yielded 
to  the  persuasions  of  my  family  and  sat  to  Artist 
Whipple  for  my  portrait. 

Just  in  front  of  me  hung  a  recently  finished  pic- 
ture of  Sherman.  I  turned  up  my  coat  collar. 

Ill 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Whipple  came  up  from  behind  and  turned  it  down. 
I  shivered,  and  with  a  glance  at  the  face  of  Gar- 
field's  and  Hayes'  friend,  remarked: 

"Well!  well!  I  can  hardly  believe  that  John 
Sherman's  portrait  would  have  raised  my  choler 
like  that !" 

Frederick  Billings,  of  Vermont,  presented  the 
name  of  George  F.  Edmunds,  of  Vermont,  while 
J.  B.  Cassoday,  of  Wisconsin,  named  Elihu  Wash- 
burne,  of  Illinois. 

Brandegee,  of  Connecticut,  in  according  the 
nomination  of  Washburne,  delivered  an  argument 
against  a  third  term  for  Grant.  He  addressed 
Senator  Conkling  in  this  way:  "Let  me  tell  the 
gentleman  from  New  York  that  he  cannot  sit  down 
at  the  ear  of  every  voter  and  give  the  argument 
he  has  given  to-night  against  the  traditions  of  our 
fathers.  He  may  by  the  magic  of  his  eloquence  take 
this  convention  and  the  galleries  off  their  feet  in 
his  fervor.  But  even  his  great  abilities,  even  his 
unmatched  eloquence,  cannot  go  down  to  the  fire- 
side of  every  voter  and  persuade  them  that  all  the 
traditions  of  the  fathers  with  reference  to  a  third 
term  are  but  humbug  and  masquerade.  Does  he 
not  know  that  his  candidate  would  be  on  the  de- 
fensive, that  even  the  magic  name  of  Grant  can 
hardly  carry  him  in  this  convention?  Does  he 
not  know — no  one  knows  so  well  as  he — that  the 
name  of  Grant  would  carry  this  convention 
through  by  storm,  if  there  were  not  an  invincible 
argument  against  his  nomination! " 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  placing  of  candidates  in  nomination  con- 
snmed  the  better  part  of  June  6,  the  fourth  day  of 
the  convention.  An  adjournment  was  then  ordered 
until  morning.  All  night  the  '  '  Three  Hundred  and 
Six"  labored  to  strengthen  their  position.  They 
fought  against  a  combination  whose  cries  were, 
"Anything  to  beat  Grant,"  and  "No  third  term." 

Three  hundred  and  seventy-eight  votes  were  re- 
quired to  nominate.  The  anti-third  termers  united 
to  prevent  us  from  getting  the  seventy-two  we 
needed.  On  the  morning  of  June  7,  the  first  ballot 
was  taken.  It  showed  Grant  with  304 ;  Elaine,  284 ; 
Sherman,  93;  Edmunds,  34;  Washburne,  30;  and 
Windom,  10.  New  York  cast  51  votes  for  Grant, 
17  for  Blaine,  and  2  for  Sherman,  except  on  the 
seventeenth  ballot,  when  Grant  lost  1  and  Blaine 
gained  1. 

During  the  day,  delegates  from  various  States 
called  upon  Conkling  and  offered  to  support  him 
if  he  would  desert  Grant.  He  angrily  spurned  the 
suggestion,  replying:  "I  am  here  as  the  agent  of 
New  York  to  support  General  Grant  to  the  end. 
Any  man  who  would  forsake  him  under  such  con- 
ditions does  not  deserve  to  be  elected  and  could  not 
be  elected." 

GABPIELD  NOMINATED 

On  the  sixth  day  we  mustered  313  votes  for 
Grant,  and  some  thought  that  the  Grant  stampede 
had  begun.  They  were  mistaken.  On  the  thirty- 
sixth  ballot  the  break  to  Garfield  came.  New  York 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gave  Mm  20  of  her  70  votes.  The  total  was  399. 
Grant  got  306;  Elaine,  42;  Washburne,  5;  and 
Sherman,  3. 

Senator  Conkling  moved  to  make  the  nomination 
of  Garfield  unanimous,  and  the  convention  adopted 
his  suggestion.  Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York, 
was  made  the  nominee  for  Vice-President.  The 
convention  then  adjourned  and  we  started  for  our 
homes. 

So  great  was  the  vilification  of  General  Grant 
prior  to  and  during  the  convention,  that  I  could 
not  forbear  to  express  my  own  opinion  of  it  quite 
frequently.  I  recall  being  asked  by  a  newspaper 
correspondent  what  I  thought  of  the  calumny 
heaped  upon  the  former  President.  My  answer 
was  this:  " Great  men  must  expect  unjust 
criticism,  unwarranted  abuse  and  unmitigated 
calumny.  Supporters  of  General  Grant  should 
bear  in  mind  that  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  beloved 
idol  and  oracle  of  Democracy,  was  unmercifully 
pelted  with  mud-balls  and  stale  eggs  by  the  Sum- 
ners  and  Schurzs  of  the  period.  The  fact  is,  that 
a  public  man  who  fails  to  incur  the  contumely  and 
jealous  hate  of  his  contemporaries  may  be  counted 
as  a  political  pigmy.  Let  no  such  man  dream  of 
being  President. " 


MY   BROTHERS,   THE    "THREE    HUNDRED   AND   Six" 

No  eulogy  of  mine  or  other  mortal  man  could 
adequately  reflect  the  love  and  veneration  which 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  possessed  for  Grant,  and  affection  and  admira- 
tion I  have  always  felt  for  the  other  three  hundred 
and  five  who  struggled  to  the  death  for  him  at 
Chicago  in  1880.  Thirteen  years  later,  at  a  time 
when  the  nation  and  New  York  State  were  in  the 
hands  of  our  political  opponents,  and  it  seemed 
all  but  hopeless  that  we  could  retrieve  the  dis- 
asters which  had  befallen  ue  in  1890, 1891  and  1892, 
I  was  reminded  anew  of  the  achievements  of  the 
" Three  Hundred  and  Six,"  and  the  peerless  leader 
for  whom  they  battled,  when  I  received  the  an- 
fcual  invitation  to  participate  in  the  dinner  we 
were  accustomed  to  give  to  celebrate  the  event. 
A  search  through  my  archives  fails  to  reveal  any 
more  appropriate  tribute  to  Grant  that  ever  fell 
from  my  pen  than  a  letter  I  wrote  in  1893  to 
Thomas  J.  Powers,  secretary  of  the  "  Three  Hun- 
dred and  Six"  band  at  Philadelphia.  It  ran  as 
follows : 

April  24,  1893. 
Hon.  THOMAS  J.  POWERS,  Secretary,  Philadelphia, 

Pa. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  find  this  morning  that  a  com- 
bination of  circumstances  will  compel  me  to  leave 
vacant  my  chair  at  the  reunion  of  the  "Old 
Guard"  to-morrow  evening.  I  regret  this  more 
than  I  have  words  to  express.  On  such  an  occa- 
sion, and  at  such  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Republican  party,  there  should  be  no  vacant  chairs 
except  those  made  so  by  death.  Looking  over  the 
list,  I  mark  the  deep  gaps  that  the  dread  Eeaper 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

has  left  in  our  lines.  One  by  one  they  have  fallen 
by  the  wayside;  but,  though  absent,  they  live  in 
our  memories.  They  died  as  they  lived,  true  to 
their  friends,  true  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them, 
noble  exemplars  of  all  that  is  glorious  in  manhood 
or  grand  in  the  principles  of  the  National  Repub- 
lican party. 

The  gathering  to-morrow  night  will  be  to  cele- 
brate the  great  event  and  to  look  back  at  our  ac- 
tion on  that  memorable  day  without  a  change  of 
front.  We  have  nothing  to  regret,  nothing  to 
apologize  for.  Our  chosen  leader  then,  if  he  were 
alive,  would  be  our  chosen  leader  still.  The  result 
of  thirteen  years  of  demoralization,  mingled  with 
defeat,  has  confirmed  the  wisdom  of  our  choice  on 
that  day;  and  I  hail  the  old  comrades  of  that  con- 
vention with  more  than  a  brother's  love,  the  faith- 
ful remnant  of  the  glorious  "  Three  Hundred  and 
Six." 

In  our  complex  form  of  government,  there  must 
be  political  parties;  and  it  is  well  for  the  nation 
that  these  parties  should  be  equally  divided,  each 
of  these  parties  holding  in  its  organization  some 
of  the  best  men  in  the  land.  If  parties  are  neces- 
sary to  united,  intelligent  action,  leaders  are  nec- 
essary to  direct  its  course  and  lead  them  on  to 
victory. 

To  insure  success,  there  must  be  perfect  con- 
fidence between  the  soldier  and  his  commander; 
succeed  in  destroying  that  and  there  can  be  no 
Appomattox,  every  battle  becoming  a  Bull  Bun. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Three  years  from  next  fall  we  shall  find  our- 
selves in  the  midst  of  another  Presidential  conflict, 
which  I  believe  will  be  the  most  bitter  and  fierce 
that  the  nation  has  seen  since  the  war.  To  us 
who  love  our  country  and  believe  in  the  perpetuity 
of  Eepublican  principles,  what  is  the  solemn  duty 
of  the  hour?  No  matter  how  high  the  character, 
how  pure  the  principle,  how  exalted  the  patriotism 
of  a  single  man,  it  counts  for  nothing  in  a  national 
conflict.  To  make  his  principles,  his  honesty  and 
his  patriotism  available,  he  must  act  in  harmony 
with  other  men  who  think  and  act  as  he  does.  It 
is  only  by  united  action,  well  considered  and  skil- 
fully directed,  that  even  the  most  righteous  cause 
can  expect  success. 

Three  years  from  this  time,  those  of  us  who 
still  survive  will  again  be  called  upon  to  act,  and 
the  present  moment  is  none  too  early  to  prepare 
for  the  coming  conflict. 

The  late  triumphant  Democracy  already  shows 
signs  of  dissolution.  Meanwhile,  the  Republicans, 
profiting  by  needed  experience  and  chastened  by 
disaster,  should  steadily  close  up  their  ranks  and 
prepare  for  the  coming  struggle.  If  my  voice 
could  reach  to-night  every  State  in  the  American 
Union,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from 
Maine  to  the  Gulf,  I  would  say,  close  up  your 
ranks,  forget  your  past  dissensions,  put  the  mem- 
ory of  past  personal  conflicts  behind  you.  Let 
the  dead  past  bury  its  dead.  The  ever-living  pres- 
ent claims  you  now.  The  principles  that  triumphed 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

so  gloriously  from  '61  to  '91  still  live  as  grand 
and  as  glorious  as  ever.  To  you,  their  stalwart 
apostles  and  supporters,  is  entrusted  a  nation's 
honor  and  a  nation's  life. 

I  wish  I  might  look  in  your  faces,  my  brothers, 
as  my  heart  swells  with  memories  of  the  past. 
True  as  the  steel  of  a  Damascus  blade,  faithful 
even  unto  death,  weighed  in  the  balance  and  never 
found  wanting,  you  are  saying  to  your  fellow 
Eepublicans  throughout  the  land,  take  example 
by  the  Old  Guard;  stand  together!  So  doing,  if 
we  succeed,  we  triumph  because  we  deserve  to 
win;  and  if  we  fail,  we  will  enjoy  the  proud  con- 
sciousness of  having  done  our  whole  duty  to  our 
party  and  our  country. 

THE   " THREE  HUNDRED  AND  SIX"  ROSTER 

Were  the  roll  of  the  "Old  Three  Hundred  and 
Six  Guard"  to  be  called  this  minute,  scarcely  a 
corporal 's  following  would  answer  to  their  names. 
Death  has  cut  down  the  great  majority  of  those 
who  so  valiantly  battled  for  Grant.  I  can  recall 
only  seven  members  of  the  New  York  delega- 
tion, besides  myself,  who  are  on  earth.  They  are 
Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  Levi  P.  Morton,  Louis  F. 
Payn,  Charles  E.  Cornell,  Isaac  V.  Baker,  Jr., 
General  James  Jourdan  and  Bernard  Biglin. 

These  have  been  gathered  to  their  fathers: 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  Koscoe  Conkling,  James  D. 
Warren,  Edwards  Pierrepont,  Jacob  M.  Patter- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

son,  John  J.  O'Brien,  Stephen  B.  French,  Jacob 
Hess,  George  H.  Sharpe,  Eufus  H.  King,  James 
J.  Belden,  Chester  S.  Cole,  James  E.  Davies,  De- 
witt  C.  Wheeler,  Thomas  Murphy,  Jacob  Worth, 
Jacob  W.  Hoysradt,  Pierre  C.  Van  Wyck, 
John  D.  Lawson,  Amos  F.  Learned,  Frederick  A. 
Schroeder,  Charles  Blaikie,  Henry  R.  Pierson, 
Charles  P.  Easton,  John  M.  Francis,  W.  W.  Rock- 
well, David  Wilber,  William  H.  Comstock,  Ed- 
ward H.  Shelley,  George  M.  Case,  Charles  L.  Ken- 
nedy, John  B.  Murray,  Francis  0.  Mason,  George 
M.  Hicks,  Orlew  W.  Chapman,  Charles  J.  Lang- 
don,  Edward  A.  Frost,  Henry  A.  Bruner,  George 
G.  Hoskins,  John  E.  Pound,  Ray  V.  Pierce  and 
John  Nice. 

All  of  these,  for  thirty-five  ballots,  stood  like 
the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  faithful  to  their  idol,  and 
went  down  with  their  colors  nailed  to  the  mast. 
They  participated  in  a  display  of  devotion  un- 
precedented in  American  politics.  That  I  should 
have  outlived  all  but  seven  of  the  fifty  heroes — 
for  they  were  heroes — few  would  have  believed 
if  they  had  gazed  upon  the  strong,  healthy,  mili- 
tant Empire  State  representatives,  as  they  stood 
in  solid  phalanx  at  Chicago  in  1880.  They  stuck 
to  Grant  as  Grant  stuck  to  Lee.  But  Grant 
whipped  Lee.  We  could  not  whip  a  majority  of 
the  delegates  to  the  National  Convention. 

Lest  we  forget,  let  me  add  to  the  list  of  brave 
boys  from  New  York  those  from  other  States  who 
joined  in  the  unsuccessful  contest. 

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THE  DISTINGUISHED  DEAD 

The  most  distinguished  of  them  are  dead — 
notably,  General  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  and 
Matthew  S.  Quay,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Here  is  the  roll  by  States : 

Alabama — George  Turner,  Ben  S.  Turner,  J.  A. 
Thomasson,  G.  M.  Braxdall,  James  Gillette,  Allen 
Alexander,  Paul  Strobach,  G.  W.  Washington, 
Isaac  Heyman,  W.  Youngblood,  W.  J.  Stevens, 
Winfield  S.  Bird,  N.  W.  Trimble,  J.  M.  Hinds, 
A.  W.  McCullough. 

Arkansas — S.  W.  Dorsey,  Powell  Clayton,  M. 
W.  Gibbs,  H.  B.  Eobinson,  0.  P.  Snyder,  J.  H. 
Johnson,  0.  A.  Hadley,  Jacob  Treiber,  Ferdinand 
Havis,  S.  H.  Holland,  J.  K.  Barnes,  J.  A.  Barnes. 

Colorado — John  L.  Eoutt,  La  Fayette  Head, 
Amos  Steck,  John  A.  Ellet,  M.  M.  Magone,  J.  T. 
Blake. 

Florida— W.  W.  Hicks,  V.  J.  Shipman,  Sherman 
Conant,  Joseph  E.  Lee,  Eeuben  S.  Smith,  F.  C. 
Humphries,  E.  I.  Alexander,  James  Dean. 

Georgia— L.  B.  Toomer,  Floyd  Snelson,  B.  F. 
Brinberry,  John  Few,  Jack  Brown,  Elbert  Head, 
S.  A.  Darnelle,  Madison  Davis. 

Illinois — John  A.  Logan,  Emory  A.  Storrs, 
Green  B.  Eaum,  D.  T.  Littler,  A.  M.  Wright,  E.  S. 
Tuthill,  E.  F.  Bull,  E.  W.  Willard,  J.  B.  Wilson, 
E.  J.  Hanna,  0.  B.  Hamilton,  T.  G.  Black,  G.  M. 
Brinkerhoff,  C.  M.  Eames,  John  V.  Harris,  J.  W. 
Haworth,  W.  H.  Barlow,  Alvin  P.  Green,  J.  N. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Truit,  Lewis  Kreughoff,  J.  M.  Davis,  C.  0.  Patier, 

C.  W.  Pavey,  W.  H.  Williams. 
Indiana — Clem  Studebaker. 

Kansas — T.  C.  Sears,  S.  A.  Day,  T.  J.  Anderson, 
John  M.  Steele. 
Kentucky — Walter  Evans,  W.  0.  Bradley,  John 

D.  White,  John  H.  Jackson,   John   H.   Pnryear, 
James  H.  Happy,  Albert  H.  Clark,  W.  G.  Hunter, 
George  T.  Blakeley,  E.  H.  Hobson,  John  W.  Lewis, 
Silas  F.  Miller,  James  F.  Buckner,  Jr.,  Eichard 
P.  Stoll,  John  K.  Faulkner,  A.  E.  Adams,  A.  T. 
Wood,  W.  W.  Culbertson,  Morris  C.  Hutchins, 
Logan  McKee. 

Louisiana — William  Pitt  Kellogg,  James  Lewis, 
John  T.  Ludeling,  Eichard  Simms,  William  Har- 
per, J.  S.  Matthews,  David  Young,  J.  H.  Burch. 

Maryland — Jacob  Tome,  J.  A.  J.  Creswell,  D. 
Pinkney  West,  W.  W.  Johnson,  W.  J.  Hooper,  Dr. 
H.  J.  Brown. 

Massachusetts — Azariah  Eldridge,  F.  A.  Ho- 
bart,  George  S.  Boutwell,  George  A.  Marden. 

Michigan— William  G.  Thompson. 

Minnesota — D.  Sinclair,  C.  F.  Kindred. 

Mississippi — Blanche  K.  Bruce,  H.  C.  Carter, 
W.  H.  Kennon,  George  C.  McKee,  Joshua  E. 
Smith,  George  W.  Gayles,  W.  W.  Bell. 

Missouri — Chauncey  I.  Filley,  E.  T.  Van  Horn, 
H.  E.  Havens,  David  Wagner,  Nicholas  Berg, 
John  A.  Weber,  T.  B.  Eodgers,  John  H.  Pohlman, 
Thomas  G.  Allen,  William  Ballantine,  James  A. 
Lindsay,  Hamilton  E.  Baker,  T.  A.  Lowe,  Eobert 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

C.  McBeth,  W.  E.  Maynard,  A.  G.  Hollenbeck,  W. 
J.  Terrell,  L.  C.  Stevens,  N.  F.  Essig,  Thomas  D. 
Neal,  George  Hall,  T.  J.  Whiteman,  H.  N.  Cook, 
H.  M.  Hiller,  J.  E.  Adams,  E.  A.  Buckner,  Stuart 
Carkener,  A.  D.  Jaynes. 

Nevada — C.  C.  Stevenson,  J.  J.  Meigs. 

North  Carolina — Isaac  J.  Young,  Thomas  B. 
Keogh,  J.  W.  Hardein,  O.  J.  Spears,  T.  N.  Cooper. 

Pennsylvania — Matthew  S.  Quay,  J.  Hay 
Brown,  C.  L.  Magee,  W.  J.  Pollock,  David  H.  Lane, 
David  Mouat,  Thomas  J.  Powers,  William  L. 
Smith,  Adam  Albright,  Chester  N.  Fair,  A.  J. 
Kauffman,  W.  K.  Seltzer,  S.  Y.  Thompson,  J.  J. 
Albright,  Samuel  A.  Losch,  W.  S.  Moorehead,  J. 
Donald  Cameron,  C.  H.  Bergner,  William  H.  Arm- 
strong, Thomas  L.  Lane,  John  Cessna,  David 
Over,  James  Hersh,  John  Hays,  James  A.  Beaver, 
'George  F.  Huff,  S.  M.  Baily,  W.  C.  Moreland, 
James  A.  McDevitt,  William  B.  Eodgers,  James 
H.  Lindsay,  J.  E.  Harrah,  Joseph  Buffington,  John 
I.  Gordon,  Charles  M.  Eead,  Harrison  Allen. 

South  Carolina — E.  M.  Brayton,  W.  A.  Hayne, 
W.  N.  Taft,  C.  C.  Bowen,  W.  M.  Fine,  S.  T. 
Pointer,  W.  J.  Whipper,  W.  F.  Meyers. 

Tennessee — L.  C.  Houck,  H.  H.  Harrison,  J. 
N.  Thornburgh,  J.  M.  Cordell,  W.  S.  Tipton,  W. 
T.  Cate,  J.  S.  Smith,  William  H.  Wisener,  S.  0. 
W.  Brandon,  W.  H.  Young,  A.  M.  Hughes,  Sr., 
B.  A.  J.  Nixon,  E.  G.  Eidgeley,  F.  E.  Hunt,  Lar- 
kin  Williams. 

Texas— E.  J.  Davis,  Webster  Flanagan,  A.  B. 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Norton,  William  Holland,  Frank  Harwin,  J.  G. 
Tracey,  G.  M.  Dilley,  William  Chambers,  W.  H. 
Hakes,  C.  C.  Binkley,  D.  A.  Eobinson,  W.  E. 
Chase,  A.  Seimering  and  three  unknown. 

Virginia— Peter  J.  Carter,  D.  S.  Lewis,  Joseph 
Jorgensen,  John  W.  Woltz,  L.  E.  Stewart,  Joshua 
Crump,  James  D.  Brady,  W.  H.  Pleasants,  H.  C. 
Harris,  W.  E.  Watkins,  F.  Ware,  John  Donovan, 
L.  L.  Lewis,  W.  0.  Austin,  C.  C.  Tompkins,  J.  W. 
Pointdexter  and  three  unknown. 

West  Virginia — John  H.  Eossler. 

A  more  fearless,  devoted,  gallant  body  of  men 
never  enlisted  in  any  battle.  Their  feat  was  abso- 
lutely unparalleled  in  political  history.  Gen. 
Grant  personally  assured  me  that  their  fidelity  was 
to  him  far  more  gratifying  than  a  third  nomina- 
tion and  re-election  to  the  Presidency  could  have 
been. 


123 


CHAPTER  VI 

1880-1881 

My  distrust  of  Garfield,  and  the  cause — He  cries 
for  succor — Terms  of  the  contract  to  which  I 
forced  him  to  agree  in  return  for  New  York 
organization  props — Grant,  Conkling  and  I 
finally  save  him. 

THE  friends  of  General  Grant  departed  from  the 
Chicago  convention,  after  that  protracted  strug- 
gle, sorrowed,  disappointed  and  ugly.  Soon  there- 
after the  Democratic  convention  was  held  and 
General  Hancock  was  nominated  as  their  candi- 
date with  great  unanimity  and  enthusiasm.  The 
masses  of  the  Democratic  party  rallied  to  their 
work  with  great  cheerfulness  and  hope.  For  two 
months  the  Hancock  boom  grew  in  its  proportions. 
It  seemed  as  if  it  were  sure  to  sweep  the  country, 
and  that  Garfield 's  chances  of  election  were  grow- 
ing small  by  degrees  and  less  every  day. 

It  was  generally  understood  that  New  York  was 
the  pivotal  State,  and  Eepublican  success  hinged 
upon  success  there.  The  organization  of  that  party 
in  New  York  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  General 
Grant's  friends.  The  chairman  of  the  State  com- 
mittee was  the  candidate  for  Vice-President, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York.  I  was  the  chair- 
man of  the  executive  committee.  Both  of  us  be- 
longed to  the  "Three  Hundred  and  Six'7  who  had 
so  stubbornly  insisted  upon  Grant's  candidacy. 

GAKFIELD   ELOQUENT,   BUT  UNTBUSTWOBTHY 

Both  Conkling  and  I  distrusted  the  Bepublican 
candidate  for  President.  Garfield  was  strong  in- 
tellectually, but  he  lacked  moral  courage.  He  was 
perhaps  the  ablest  parliamentarian  in  Congress, 
a  born  orator,  and  could  sway  the  multitude  as 
no  other  man  of  his  day  could.  He  demonstrated 
that  while  on  the  stump  during  the  Presidential 
campaign  of  1880,  and  even  earlier,  when  he  ut- 
tered the  celebrated  phrase,  "God  reigns  and  the 
Government  at  Washington  still  lives,"  at  a  time 
when  the  North  seemed  panic-stricken  over  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 

Garfield  was  leonine  in  stature,  slow  in  motion, 
wore  a  full  beard,  as  did  President  Hayes  and  as 
Governor  Hughes  does,  and  was  a  most  attractive 
man  to  meet.  He  was  prone  to  raise  expectations 
that  were  rarely  fulfilled.  He  was  of  an  emotional 
and  religious  nature,  and  religious  people,  there- 
fore— particularly  those  who  did  not  know  him 
personally — were  inclined  to  believe  in  him.  His 
desertion,  in  Chicago,  of  John  Sherman,  to  whose 
Presidential  candidacy  he  was  pledged,  had  been 
typically  Garfieldesque. 

Up  to  the  1st  of  August,  1880,  no  steps  had  been 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

taken  by  the  State  committee  to  do  any  work  or 
perfect  any  plans,  so  thoroughly  were  they  dis- 
heartened and  demoralized.  The  friends  of  Gar- 
field  saw  how  desperate  his  fortunes  were  grow- 
ing, and  that  some  immediate  remedy  must  be 
applied  or  the  canvass  would  go  by  default.  They 
saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  pacify,  appease  and 
arouse  Senator  Conkling  and  his  friends;  and  in 
order  to  do  this,  a  meeting  must  in  some  way  be 
brought  about  between  Garfield  and  Conkling. 
This  was  a  difficult  task,  because  everybody  under- 
stood that  in  the  state  of  Conkling 's  mind  it  would 
be  absolutely  impossible  to  persuade  him  to  go  to 
Mentor,  or  even  half  way  there,  on  such  a  mission. 

CONKLING  SPURNS  GABFIELD 

Ex-Senator  Stephen  W.  Dorsey,  who  at  that 
time  was  one  of  Garfield 's  confidential  friends 
and  close  advisers,  conceived  the  plan  of  bring- 
ing Garfield  to  New  York  to  meet  Conkling 
upon  the  pretext  of  a  great  meeting  of  the 
leading  Kepublicans  of  the  country,  to  be  held 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York  City, 
to  consult  as  to  ways  and  to  provide  means 
for  conducting  the  campaign.  Accordingly,  in- 
vitations were  sent  out  all  over  the  country  to  the 
magnates  of  the  party,  summoning  them  to  this 
conference,  which  was  to  take  place  in  August, 
1880.  This  conference  was  a  mere  cover  and  a 
farce.  Dorsey  and  the  other  promoters  of  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

scheme  assumed  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  that 
Mr.  Conkling  would  readily  consent  to  be  present 
at  the  conference,  and  to  holding  the  interview  for 
the  purpose  of  making  terms  with  the  prospective 
President.  In  this  they  were  mistaken.  Mr.  Conk- 
ling  had  planned  to  come  to  New  York  on  business 
two  or  three  days  prior  to  the  conference,  and  then 
for  the  first  time  learned  from  Mr.  Dorsey  the 
proposed  plan.  He  refused  absolutely  to  become  a 
party  to  it,  giving  as  his  private  reason  that  he 
knew  Garfield  so  well  that  he  would  not  keep  any 
promise  or  regard  any  obligations  made  and  taken 
under  such  circumstances,  but  publicly  alleging 
that  he  could  not  become  a  party  to  any  bargain  or 
treaty  which  would  be  surely  charged  upon  him 
if  he  remained  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings. 
However,  to  satisfy  his  friends,  he  assured  them 
that  he  would  abide  by  their  action  in  whatever 
they  decided  to  do,  and  carry  out  as  far  as  he 
could  consistently  their  promises,  urging  great 
caution  and  not  to  trust  to  verbal  promises.  Im- 
portunities of  friends  had  no  effect  to  dissuade 
him,  and  he  left  New  York  immediately,  leaving  no 
information  as  to  his  destination. 

THE   "  BUCKEYE "   MAN?S   CHAGRIN 

Garfield  came  as  arranged.  But  his  chagrin, 
mortification  and  indignation,  which  were  mani- 
fested (only,  of  course,  to  the  inner  circle)  when 
he  found  that  Conkling  was  absent  and  would  not 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

be  present,  is  left  to  the  imagination.  Telegrams 
were  sent  to  various  points  where  it  was  thought 
Mr.  Conkling  might  be,  explaining  the  great  em- 
barrassment and  begging  him  to  return.  He  went 
where  he  knew  no  importunities  could  follow. 

On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  after  Gar- 
field's  arrival,  the  meeting  was  arranged  to  take 
place  at  the  rooms  occupied  by  Hon.  Levi  P. 
Morton,  in  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  to  bring  Gen- 
eral Garfield  in  communication  with  a  few  of  Mr. 
Conkling 's  friends.  There  were  present  at  that 
interview  General  Garfield,  General  Arthur,  Hon. 
Levi  P.  Morton,  Eichard  Crowley  and  myself. 
There  were  three  primary  motives  for  the  consul- 
tation: one  to  pacify  Garfield  for  Conkling 's  ab- 
sence ;  another  to  have  an  understanding  with  Gen- 
eral Garfield  as  to  his  future  relations  to  and 
intentions  toward  the  controlling  power  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  viz.,  the  Grant-Conkling  " ma- 
chine ";  and  thirdly,  if  the  former  were  arranged 
to  the  mutual  satisfaction,  to  adopt  ways  and 
means  for  procuring  money  to  carry  on  the  canvass 
for  the  latter  purpose.  The  presence  of  the  Hon. 
Levi  P.  Morton  was  invoked,  the  scheme  being  to 
put  Mr.  Morton  at  the  head  of  a  special  finance 
committee,  consisting  of  a  dozen  of  the  most 
wealthy  and  influential  bankers  and  business  men, 
who  should  be  charged  with  that  duty.  General 
Garfield  himself  had  previously  urged  Mr.  Morton 
to  assume  that  onerous  and  thankless  burden, 
which  up  to  that  time  he  had  refused. 

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MY  TEEMS  TO  GARFIELD 

There  was  an  embarrassing  silence  for  a  few 
moments  after  the  above-mentioned  gentlemen  had 
taken  their  seats  in  Mr.  Morton's  rooms.  It  was 
broken  by  General  Garfield  asking  why  Mr.  Conk- 
ling  was  not  there,  and  expressing  his  disappoint- 
ment and  indignation  in  strong  terms.  An  effort 
was  then  made  by  all  of  Mr.  Conkling's  friends 
present  to  convince  Mr.  Garfield  that  it  was  just 
as  well  that  he  was  not  there;  that  we  were  au- 
thorized to  act  for  him;  that  Mr.  Conkling's  excuse 
for  his  absence  seemed  to  us  a  valid  one,  and  that 
no  charge  of  bargain,  trading  or  treaty  of  peace 
could  be  charged  with  him  absent.  Our  combined 
assurances  and  arguments  seemed  to  mitigate  his 
wrath,  and  finally  he  declared  that  if  we  would 
agree  to  arrange  to  have  Mr.  Conkling  make  two 
or  three  speeches  in  Ohio  at  such  points  as  he 
might  designate,  he  would  accept  the  situation  and 
treat  with  us  as  Mr.  Conkling's  representatives. 
This  settled,  the  subject  which  was  the  one  of 
most  vital  importance  was  broached  by  my 
saying : 

"Mr.  Garfield,  there  seems  to  be  some  hesita- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  other  gentlemen  present  to 
speak ;  but  I  might  as  well  say  that  we  are  here  to 
speak  frankly  and  talk  business.  The  question  we 
would  like  to  have  decided  before  the  work  of  this 
campaign  commences  is  whether,  if  you  are  elected, 
we  are  to  have  four  years  more  of  an  administra- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tion  similar  to  that  of  Butherford  B.  Hayes; 
whether  you  are  going  to  recognize  and  reward 
the  men  who  must  do  the  work  in  this  State,  and 
bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle  in  the  campaign;  or 
whether  you  are  to  counsel  with  and  be  guided 
by  the  advice  of  the  seventeen  men  who  rebelled 
from  the  delegation  at  Chicago,  disobeyed  the 
instructions,  and  thereby,  as  is  frequently  stated, 
made  'your  nomination  possible.'  If  the  latter  is 
your  purpose,  it  is  our  wish  to  retire  from  the 
active  work  of  the  canvass  and  permit  you  to 
place  in  command  such  men  as  you  may  desire 
and  relieve  us  from  all  obligation  except  the  usual 
support  of  the  ticket  by  all  good  Eepublicans.  We 
cannot  afford  to  do  the  work,  and  let  others  reap 
the  reward. " 

GABFIELD'S  PLEDGES 

General  Garfield  replied  with  great  earnestness 
and  at  some  length.  He  disavowed  having  any 
close  relations  with  the  Hayes  administration,  say- 
ing that  he  had  never  received  any  favors  or  spe- 
cial consideration  from  Mr.  Hayes  during  his 
whole  term;  that  he  had  no  sympathy  whatever 
with  his  Southern  policy  and  did  not  agree  with 
him  in  his  civil  service  plans ;  that  he  thought  that 
his  treatment  of  Grant  and  his  friends  had  been 
unwise  and  unjust,  and  otherwise  he  spoke  very 
disparagingly  of  Eutherford  B.  Hayes.  He  de- 
clared that  he  knew  that  the  dominant  power  in 
the  State  of  New  York  was  the  friends  of  Grant 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

and  Conkling;  that  they  were  in  control  of  the 
party  machinery;  and  he  could  not  be  elected  with- 
out their  cordial  support.  He  did  not  want  to 
change  the  order  of  things,  but  desired  us  to  take 
hold  with  zeal  and  energy  and  insure  his  election. 
If  this  was  done,  he  assured  us  that  the  wishes 
of  the  element  of  the  party  we  represented  should 
be  paramount  with  him,  touching  all  questions  of 
patronage.  While  it  would  be  his  duty  to  give 
such  decent  recognition  of  and  show  proper  grati- 
tude to  the  rebellious  element  at  Chicago  that  had 
rendered  his  nomination  possible,  yet,  in  dispens- 
ing those  favors,  he  would  consult  with  our  friends 
and  do  only  what  was  approved  by  them.  These 
assurances  were  oft  repeated,  and  solemnly  em- 
phasized, and  were  accepted  and  agreed  to  by  all 
those  present. 

STIRRING  UP  THE  PEOPLE 

Then  Mr.  Garfield  was  given  the  assurance  that 
the  canvass  which  had  so  languished  would  be 
pushed  from  that  moment  with  the  utmost  energy 
and  enthusiasm.  I  myself  retired  from  that  con- 
ference to  make  arrangements  for  a  special  train 
over  the  Erie  to  pass  through  the  Southern  tier 
of  counties  to  start  the  boom  and  stir  up  the  peo- 
ple. I  sent  telegrams  to  every  point  of  any  con- 
sequence along  the  line,  stating  the  time  for  ar- 
rival of  the  royal  train,  and  urged  the  faithful  to 
rally  and  welcome  the  distinguished  traveler.  The 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

response  was  magical  and  wonderful.  The  people 
turned  out  by  thousands,  and  the  campaign  was 
enthusiastically  inaugurated. 

THE   COMPACT   WITH    MOBTON 

When  the  general  conference  broke  up,  General 
Garfield  and  Mr.  Morton  retired  to  an  inner  room 
for  a  private  interview.  The  substance  and  result 
of  that  interview  as  disclosed  by  Mr.  Morton  were 
these :  Mr.  Morton  did  not  propose  to  undertake 
the  labor  necessary  to  circulate  a  subscription  and 
obtain  the  large  amount  of  money  necessary  for 
such  a  national  canvass,  without  squarely  knowing 
what  his  future  status  would  be.  It  was  settled 
that  if  Mr.  Morton  would  undertake  and  perform 
the  important  work,  he  should  have  the  option  of 
receiving,  if  Mr.  Garfield  were  elected,  the  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Treasury,  the  Ministership  to  Eng- 
land, or  should  be  made  the  principal  financial 
agent  of  the  Government  for  funding  the  bonded 
debt.  Upon  this  understanding,  Mr.  Morton  went 
out  from  those  apartments,  organized  his  finance 
committee,  pushed  his  operations  vigorously,  and 
did  raise  the  sinews  of  war  which  were  vital  to 
the  victory  that  followed. 

The  campaign  in  the  State  of  New  York  was 
from  that  moment  pushed  with  most  untiring  and 
sleepless  energy.  No  equally  exhaustive  and  ' l  red- 
hot  "  canvass  was  ever  before  made.  The  people 
in  both  city  and  country  were  aroused  to  the  high- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

est  pitch  of  enthusiasm.  A  procession  of  more 
than  50,000  men,  comprising  the  \*arious  merchants 
and  business  men  of  New  York  City,  paraded  the 
streets,  beginning  in  the  early  evening  and  not 
reaching  the  close  until  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. Manufacturers  were  enlisted  into  a  separate 
organization,  and  a  list  of  every  manufacturing 
firm,  corporation  and  organization,  with  the  name 
of  every  operative,  was  obtained,  and  the  shops 
were  flooded  with  every  manner  of  argument  to 
persuade  the  laboring  man.  The  organization  of 
the  party  did  its  whole  duty,  carried  out  its  agree- 
ment with  General  Garfield,  and  triumphantly  car- 
ried the  State,  thereby  saving  him  from  inevitable 
defeat.  It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Conkling  were  enabled  to  persuade  him  to 
make  the  promised  speeches  in  Ohio,  and  it  was 
not  until  General  Grant  consented  to  go  with  him 
and  also  be  present  at  the  mass  meetings  that  Mr. 
Conkling  yielded  to  the  demands  of  his  friends. 

GARFIELD  *S  THANKS  TO  ME 

That  General  Garfield  himself  was  satisfied  that 
the  pledges  given  him  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  confer- 
ence were  in  good  faith,  and  that  he  returned  to 
his  home  convinced  of  the  loyalty  of  the  New  York 
Republican  organization,  he  himself  bore  testi- 
mony in  a  letter  to  me.  Here  it  is: 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Mentor,  Ohio,  August  17,  1880. 
MY  DEAR  PLATT  : 

In  the  hurry  of  our  parting,  I  did  not  have  time 
to  express  adequately  my  gratitude  for  your  kind- 
ness in  making  such  perfect  arrangements  for  our 
journey.  I  cannot  now  think  of  a  single  point  in 
all  the  arrangements  that  could  have  been  better. 
The  remainder  of  our  journey  was  a  continuation 
of  what  you  saw,  and  I  hope  no  mistakes  were 
made  and  some  good  done. 

Please  let  me  know  how  things  are  looking  from 
your  end  of  the  line. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  J.  A.  GARFIELD. 

Hon.  T.  C.  PLATT,  State  Eepublican  Committee, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

GRANT  AND  CONKLING  TO  THE  RESCUE 

It  was  after  delivering  an  address  at  Warren 
that  General  Grant  insisted  that  Conkling  should 
join  with  him  in  a  call  upon  General  Garfield  at 
Mentor.  The  late  Senator  Simon  Cameron  ar- 
ranged the  meeting.  He  had  personally  warned 
Garfield  that  he  could  not  be  elected  unless 
Grant  and  Conkling  were  with  him.  Garfield 
instructed  Cameron  to  go  to  Warren  and  urge 
Conkling  to  visit  him.  Conkling  pleaded  that 
he  must  continue  to  fulfil  his  contract  to  speak  for 
the  ticket  without  hindrance.  Cameron  secured  a 
special  train  and  put  Grant  and  Conkling  aboard 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

it.  The  party  arrived  at  Mentor  in  a  pouring  rain. 
They  drove  to  the  Garfield  home.  As  Conkling 
stepped  out  of  the  carriage,  Garfield  rushed  out 
from  the  porch  bareheaded,  and  clasping  Conkling 
in  his  arms,  exclaimed  pathetically:  "Conkling, 
you  have  saved  me.  Whatever  man  can  do  for  man 
that  will  I  do  for  you!" 

Conkling  exacted  a  pledge  that  in  all  appoint- 
ments for  the  Federal  service  in  New  York  State, 
in  case  of  his  election,  Garfield  would  consult  the 
U.  S.  Senators,  Vice-President  and  Governor  and 
State  committee,  and  that  he  would  make  no  ap- 
pointments for  New  York  unless  they  were  ap- 
proved by  these  officials.  To  this  Garfield  agreed. 

I  saw  Conkling  on  his  return.  Conkling  told  me 
of  the  pledge.  I  asked:  "Have  you  any  faith  in 
Garfield  t" 

Conkling  made  a  wry  face,  sneered,  and  replied : 
"Not  much,  but  we  will  try  him  out." 


'  *  PLATT  SAVED  GABFIELD ' ' — CLABKSON 

To  quote  General  Clarkson  again: 

"A  sullen  campaign  followed.  With  Grant  na- 
turally hurt,  Conkling  apparently  implacable,  and 
nearly  all  the  Stalwarts  in  sympathy  with  him, 
the  party  was  pitched  toward  certain  defeat,  de- 
spite the  name  of  Arthur  on  the  ticket  as  a  hostage 
of  good  intention  to  the  offended  element.  Mr. 
Platt,  too,  as  a  further  pacification,  had  been  made 
<a  member  of  the  party's  national  committee.  It 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plati 

was  Grant  and  he  that  set  in  motion  finally  the 
influences  that  brought  the  discontented  into  a 
better  party  spirit,  and  that  resulted  in  Grant  and 
Conkling  going  to  Ohio  to  speak,  and  in  Platt  so 
organizing  the  party  as  to  gain  the  needed  votes 
that  saved  Garfield's  election — a  result  that  could 
not  and  would  not  have  been  gained  without  his 
faithful  and  powerful  help. 

"This  was  the  first  of  the  three  Eepublican 
Presidents  who  have  had  their  elections  saved  to 
them  through  the  party  devotion,  the  personality 
and  the  skill  in  political  generalship  of  Mr.  Platt ; 
the  undisputed  tokens  of  his  power  that  the  pessi- 
mists never  mention. 

"Again  there  was  a  movement  over  the  country 
to  have  the  real  victor  of  the  difficult  campaign 
made  Postmaster-General  in  popular  recognition 
of  his  valuable  services.  But  his  own  State  hur- 
ried forward  in  its  own  appreciation  and  gratitude, 
and  in  January  following  elected  him  to  a  greater 
honor  of  its  own,  that  of  U.  S.  Senator.  This  took 
him  to  Washington  to  have  the  strange  experience 
of  the  President  whose  election  he  had  saved  not 
only  disregarding  the  advice  of  Conkling  and  him- 
self as  to  the  appointments  in  New  York,  but  put- 
ting upon  them  a  name  for  an  important  office 
that  was  to  them  such  an  affront  as  that  of  no 
other  man  could  have  been — an  act  so  strange, 
and  an  insult  so  direct,  that  it  drove  Platt  into 
resigning  and  Conkling  following  his  action. 

"This  was  a  mistake  for  Platt,  for  Conkling,, 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

and  f c?r  New  York.  For  it  took  Platt  for  sixteen 
years  out  of  the  position  of  power  in  which  to 
serve  his  State  and  the  nation ;  and  ended  forever 
the  great  career  of  Conkling,  and  left  him  to  die 
with  a  bitterness  of  spirit  that  the  country  re- 
gretted as  much  as  himself.  Yet  it  was  a  manly 
and  self-respecting  motive,  and  a  just  indignation, 
both  in  a  personal  and  political  sense,  that  led  Mr. 
Platt  into  doing  it,  and  Mr.  Conkling  into  follow- 
ing him. 


137 


ROSCOB  CONKLING 
138 


CHAPTER  VII 

1881-1882 

My  first  contest  for  the  Senate  as  a  Stalwart — 
Garfield  repudiates  the  preelection  covenant  of 
1880 — What  impelled  Conkling  and  myself  to 
resent  this  and  resign — Methods  employed  by 
the  Federal  administration  to  prevent  our  re- 
election— How  we  were  beaten — Lou  Payn, 
the  seer — Horrifying  situation  produced  by 
the  killing  of  Garfield — Distressing  conditions 
under  which  Arthur  succeeded  him — My  so- 
licitation for  Conkling 's  return,  and  how  it 
came  to  grief — I  succeed  to  the  Stalwart 
leadership. 

SUDDENLY  I  heard  myself  talked  about  for  the 
U.  S.  Senate  to  succeed  Francis  Kernan,  Demo- 
crat. I  had  so  recently  identified  myself  with  the 
U.  S.  Express  Company  that  I  was  very  reluctant 
to  return  to  public  life.  But  friends  insisted  that 
I  should  declare  myself  a  candidate.  I  knew  I 
would  have  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  Garfield 
men  and  of  Elaine,  who  was  about  to  become  Sec- 
retary of  State  in  the  Garfield  Cabinet.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  there  had  been  trouble  enough  in  the 
party  without  looking  for  more.  The  campaign 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

began,  however,  and  I  was  forced  to  participate 
finally  as  an  avowed  candidate.  I  soon  discovered 
I  had  rivals  in  Richard  Crowley,  of  Lockport; 
Sherman  S.  Eogers,  of  Erie ;  William  A.  Wheeler, 
of  Franklin,  who  had  been  Vice-President  during 
the  Hayes  administration;  Eldridge  G.  Lapham, 
'Of  Ontario;  Chauncey  M.  Depew  and  Levi  P. 
Morton,  of  New  York. 

The  canvass  commenced  immediately  after  the 
election  returns  showed  that  the  Republicans  had 
carried  the  Legislature. 

At  first  Vice-President  Arthur  and  Conkling 
stoutly  supported  Crowley.  Ultimately  they  came 
to  my  aid.  They  did  this,  however,  after  they 
had  failed  to  capture  the  followers  of  former  Vice- 
President  Wheeler  for  Crowley. 

Depew,  who  at  the  beginning  was  the  choice  of 
Governor  Cornell,  was  withdrawn,  and  his  follow- 
ers were  thrown  to  me.  IT.  S.  Marshals  Louis  F. 
Payn,  of  Columbia,  and  Clinton  D.  MacDougall,  of 
Cayuga;  Frank  Hiscock,  of  Onondaga;  Warner 
Miller;  former  Congressman  Davies,  and  others, 
were  among  my  original  adherents.  Morton  had 
with  him  the  late  Hugh  Hastings  and  Jacob  A. 
Hess.  Wheeler  had  behind  him  men  who  had  been 
identified  with  the  Hayes  administration.  Rogers 
was  the  candidate  of  western  New  York. 

FIKST   NAMED   FOR   THE   U.    S.   SENATE 

The  caucus  was  held  on  the  night  of  January  13, 
1881.  My  friends  secured  the  preliminary  skir- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

mish  by  selecting  Senator  Dennis  McCarthy,  of 
Onondaga,  as  chairman.  Patrick  Cullinan,  of 
Oswego,  placed  my  name  before  the  caucus.  He 
was  a  natural  born  orator,  slow,  deliberate,  and 
possessed  a  voice  which  resounded  through  the 
chamber. 

Messrs.  Halbert,  Young  and  Nowlan  seconded 
my  nomination.  E.  A.  Carpenter  submitted  the 
name  of  Crowley.  Speaker  Sharpe  offered  the 
second.  Senator  Pitts,  of  Orleans,  presented 
Rogers;  Assemblyman  John  Eaines,  of  Ontario, 
Lapham;  and  Assemblyman  Brennan  put  up 
Wheeler. 

"Old  Salt"  Thomas  G.  Alvord,  who  led  the 
Assembly  roll  call,  cast  his  vote  for  me.  So  did 
Assemblyman  James  W.  Husted,  popularly  known 
as  the  "Bald  Eagle  of  Westchester."  It  became 
apparent  long  before  the  roll  call  ended  that  I 
was  to  be  the  victor. 

Out  of  105  votes  I  received  54;  Crowley,  26; 
Rogers  and  Wheeler,  each  10;  Lapham,  4;  and 
Morton,  1.  Speaker  Sharpe  moved  to  make  the 
nomination  unanimous,  and  it  was  so  agreed. 


ORIGIN    OP   THB    TEEM    "STALWABT?" 

It  was  during  this  contest  that  the  term  "Stal- 
wart" became  so  celebrated. 

Alfred  R.  Conkling,  nephew  of  the  late  Senator, 
asserts  that  his  uncle  coined  the  term  "Stalwart" 
at  a  meeting  of  the  three  of  us  at  Wormley's 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Hotel,  Washington,  in  1875.  He  says  that  Conk- 
ling  addressed  me:  "Let  me  introduce  my 
nephew,  Alfred. ' ' 

I  looked  the  young  man  over  and  remarked: 
"You  resemble  an  Englishman  more  than  you  do 
an  American." 

"He  is  a  Stalwart  man,"  was  Senator  Conk- 
ling's  reply. 

Since  the  nephew  reminded  me  of  this  incident, 
I  have  had  a  pretty  accurate  recollection  that  it  is 
correct.  In  any  event,  Senator  Conkling  was  the 
first  man  I  ever  heard  use  the  word  in  politics. 

I  was  really  put  forth  as  a  "Stalwart  of  the 
Stalwarts."  As  such  I  was  elected.  Nothing 
pleased  me  more  than  to  get  this  message  from 
Conkling: 

"I  congratulate  the  Bepublican  party  in  the 
State  of  New  York  on  the  choice  of  a  Senator 
who  never  apologized  for  being  a  *  Stalwart.'  " 

HOW  I  WON 

The  New  York  Tribune,  the  day  after  my  nomi- 
nation, thus  described  how  I  had  won : 

The  Senatorial  Nomination. — Mr.  Thomas  C. 
Platt  is  to  be  the  next  United  States  Senator  from 
New  York.  Readers  of  the  Tribune  at  least  have 
no  reason  for  surprise  at  a  result  which  has  been 
so  long  and  so  clearly  foreshadowed.  If  a  dis- 
tinctive representative  of  the  machine  was  to  be 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

chosen,  then  doubtless  this  is  the  best  result  that 
was  attainable;  and  Mr.  Platt's  majority  is  due 
to  that  belief  among  his  opponents, 

In  much  of  the  newspaper  discussion  concern- 
ing him,  Mr.  Platt  has  been  the  victim  of  an 
unreasonable  prejudice.  When  his  closest  politi- 
cal friend  and  most  effective  supporter  was  nomi- 
nated year  before  last  for  the  governorship,  we 
took  the  opportunity  to  say  that  while  Mr.  Cornell 
had  never  been  our  candidate,  we  were  confident 
that  he  had  been  unjustly  assailed,  that  he  would 
be  elected,  and  that  he  would  go  out  of  office  far 
more  popular  than  when  he  entered  it.  With  his 
term  not  yet  half  expired,  we  already  find  the 
latter  prediction  fulfilled,  and  his  warmest  eulogy 
coming  from  those  who  had  most  vehemently  dis- 
trusted him.  We  think  Mr.  Platt  will  have  a 
similar  experience.  He  will  be  found  a  faithful 
and  zealous  Eepublican;  he  will  seek  what  he 
honestly  believes  to  be  the  best  interest  of  the 
whole  Eepublican  party ;  he  will  be  an  industrious, 
capable  and  efficient  business  Senator;  and  he  will 
be  far  more  popular  two  years  hence  than  to-day. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  regard  this  elec- 
tion as  a  clear  defeat  of  the  men  whose  independ- 
ent action  at  Chicago  secured  the  nomination  of 
Garfield.  Finding  a  concentration  on  one  of  their 
own  men  impossible,  they  have  chosen  that  candi- 
date among  the  possibilities  who  best  suited  them. 
They  chose  the  man  whom  General  Arthur  tried 
to  defeat;  the  man  whom  the  blind  followers  of 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  machine  accused  of  a  disposition  to  set  up  for 
himself;  the  man  whom  Cornell,  after  undergoing 
a  similar  arraignment  for  daring  to  act  on  his 
own  judgment,  persisted  in  favoring;  the  man 
whom  the  city  machine  was  most  earnestly  anx- 
ious to  defeat.  Mr.  Platt  does  not  owe  his  nomi- 
nation to  Mr.  Conkling.  He  does  owe  it,  in  part, 
to  the  active  hostility  of  those  machine  men  to 
whom  Mr.  Conkling  has  of  late  given  the  largest 
share  of  his  confidence;  and  in  part  to  the  sup- 
port of  those  machine  men  who  have  been  sus- 
pected and  accused  of  too  much  independence. 
He  owes  it  more  to  confidence  in  his  fairness  and 
candor  felt  among  a  large  portion  of  the  anti- 
machine  men.  And,  finally,  he  owes  it  to  the  warm 
friendship  felt  among  Republicans  in  almost 
every  county  of  the  interior  for  the  man  whom 
they  have  long  known  as  one  of  the  most  active 
and  effective  working  Republicans  of  the  State. 

OABFIELD'S  BENEWED  PROMISE  TO  CONKLING. 

In  January,  1881,  Senator  Conkling  received 
from  President-elect  Garfield  a  letter  bidding  him 
to  come  to  Mentor  and  consult  about  New  York 
appointments  and  other  Empire  State  affairs. 

Here  is  President-elect  Garfield 's  autograph 
letter  inviting  Conkling  to  visit  him: 


144 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Mentor,  January  31,  1881. 
DEAB  SENATOR: 

As  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  I  must  enter 
upon  my  new  duties,  I  would  be  glad  to  consult 
you  upon  several  subjects  relating  to  the  next 
administration,  and  especially  in  reference  to  New 
York  interests.  It  does  not  seem  possible  for  me 
to  visit  Washington  at  present,  and  I  write  to 
express  the  hope  that  you  will  do  me  the  favor 
to  visit  me  here  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible. 
Very  truly  yours, 

J.  A.  GARFIELD. 
Hon.  ROSCOE  CONKLING,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Conkling  responded.  There  was  a  long  consul- 
tation between  him  and  the  President-elect.  The 
President-elect  reiterated  his  pledges  to  make  no 
New  York  appointments  without  consultation 
with  the  U.  S.  Senators  and  the  other  organiza- 
tion leaders.  Conkling  came  back  quite  as  skep- 
tical as  ever  of  Garfield's  intention  to  fulfil  his 
promises. 

GABFIELD  REPUDIATES  HIS  AGREEMENT 

Garfield  was  inaugurated.  The  fact  that  Conk- 
ling and  I  stood  directly  behind  the  President  and 
seemed  on  most  friendly  terms  with  him  caused 
those  who  were  ignorant  of  the  situation  to  be- 
lieve that  we  were  really  political  allies.  Their 
mistake  was  emphasized  when,  a  few  days  after 
qualifying,  without  consultation  with  us  or  with 

145 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

any  New  York  representatives,  Garfield  an- 
nounced the  removal  of  General  Edwin  A.  Mer- 
ritt  as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  Merritt 
had  proved  himself  a  most  faithful  and  experi- 
enced officer,  and  we  could  discover  no  reason  for 
his  decapitation  except  that  the  President  desired 
a  place  for  William  H.  Eobertson  as  a  reward  for 
his  championship  at  Chicago  and  during  the 
campaign. 

I  had  been  sworn  in  as  U.  S.  Senator  the  day 
before  Garfield  took  the  oath  of  office.  Conkling 
and  I  called  upon  the  President  inauguration  day 
to  offer  our  congratulations.  We  were  received 
with  great  cordiality.  During  the  conversation 
the  President  voluntarily  referred  to  the  agree- 
ment made  by  him  with  Conkling  at  Mentor,  and 
reassured  us  that  the  contract  then  outlined 
would  be  fulfilled.  Despite  this,  rumors  contin- 
ued to  multiply  that  Elaine  was  very  busy  striving 
to  induce  the  President  to  make  practically  a  clean 
sweep  of  Stalwart  office-holders  in  New  York. 
They  became  so  prevalent  that  I  began  to  believe 
there  was  a  deal  of  foundation  for  them.  March 
18  I  was  compelled  to  go  to  New  York  to  attend 
to  some  private  business.  Lest  there  might  be 
misunderstanding,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
President,  explaining  my  absence  from  Washing- 
ton, and  requesting  that  the  agreement  as  to  con- 
sideration of  New  York  appointments  might  be 
kept  at  least  until  my  return.  Here  is  a  copy  of  the 
letter  in  facsimile,  reproduced  for  the  first  time: 

146 


U.   S.   SENATE  CHAMBER 

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148 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

No  summons  came  to  either  Conkling  or  myself 
during  my  visit  to  New  York.  Meantime  we  con- 
tinued to  hear  mutterings  from  the  White  House 
that  were  unwelcome  to  our  ears. 

GABPIELD  DECLAEES  WAB 

They  were  that  Garfield  had  made  known  to 
certain  of  his  intimates  that  he  had  uttered  no 
promise  of  any  kind  to  me  and  others  at  the  Au- 
gust, New  York,  conference,  or  to  Conkling  at 
Mentor ;  that  even  if  he  had,  he  could  not,  because 
of  the  pressure  brought  upon  him  by  Secretary 
Elaine  and  others  who  had  stood  for  his  nomina- 
tion at  Chicago,  make  good. 

In  view  of  these  reports,  Conkling  and  myself 
were  not  astonished  at  the  announcement  of  the 
removal  of  General  Merritt.  When  we  learned 
that  Merritt  would  have  to  go,  Conkling  and  I 
made  up  our  minds  to  recommend  a  man  for  his 
successor.  Sunday  night,  March  21,  after  a  con- 
ference with  me,  Senator  Conkling  called  at  the 
White  House  purposing  to  suggest  Levi  P.  Mor- 
ton for  Merritt 's  job.  The  President  informed 
Conkling  that  he  was  not  ready  to  consider  New 
York  appointments.  Conkling  assured  me  that 
again  did  Garfield  reaffirm  his  New  York  and 
Mentor  promises.  March  23,  within  forty-eight 
hours  after  Conkling 's  call,  the  President  sent  to 
the  Senate  the  nominations  of  William  H.  Robert- 
son for  Collector  of  the  Port;  General  Stewart  L. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Woodford,  of  Brooklyn,  and  A.  W.  Tenney,  of 
New  York,  for  U.  S.  District- Attorneys ;  and  C.  D. 
McDougall,  of  Auburn,  and  Louis  F.  Payn,  of 
Columbia,  for  U.  S.  Marshals. 

Payn  was  our  friend.  The  others  were  not. 
Though  much  angered,  we  at  first  offered  no  pro- 
test. However,  our  patience  soon  became  ex- 
hausted, especially  about  the  nomination  of  Rob- 
ertson, who  was  thoroughly  detested  by  Conkling, 
and  had  constantly  fought  the  organization  we 
had  established.  It  developed  that  after  Conk- 
ling's  call  upon  the  President,  Secretary  Elaine 
had  visited  Garfield  and  induced  him  to  nominate 
Robertson. 

CONKLING,  NOT  I,  THE  "ME,  TOO" 

Inasmuch  as  the  collectorship  was  the  most  de- 
sirable and  lucrative  New  York  office  within  the 
gift  of  the  President,  Conkling  and  myself  natur- 
ally were  inclined  to  resent  Robertson's  nomina- 
tion. I  have  been  portrayed  as  a  "Me,  too,"  an 
'  *  Echo ' '  and  *  *  Dromio ' '  of  Conkling.  It  had  been 
an  impression  among  my  critics  that  I  merely 
followed  the  example  of  Conkling  in  exhibiting 
my  protestations  by  resigning  from  the  Senate. 

These  are  the  facts:  When  I  was  informed 
that  Robertson's  nomination  had  been  submitted 
to  the  Senate,  I  went  to  the  desk  and  examined  the 
official  document.  I  considered  it  a  gratuitous 
insult  to  the  New  York  Republican  organization. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  walked  over  to  Conkling  and  said:  "I  shall  send 
my  resignation  to  Governor  Cornell  to-night." 
Conkling,  with  a  look  of  impatience,  turned  upon 
me  and  replied :  "Young  man,  do  not  be  too  hasty 
about  this  matter!" 

We  then  went  to  the  rear  of  the  Chamber  and 
talked  it  over. 

Conkling  insisted  that  we  should  wait,  and  fight 
it  out  in  the  committee  to  which  the  Robertson 
nomination  had  been  referred.  I  replied:  "We 
have  been  so  humiliated  as  U.  S.  Senators  from 
the  great  State  of  New  York,  that  there  is  but 
one  thing  for  us  to  do — rebuke  the  President  by 
immediately  turning  in  our  resignations  and  then 
appeal  to  the  Legislature  to  sustain  us." 

I  finally  induced  Conkling,  May  14,  to  join  me 
in  offering  our  joint  resignations.  He  made  up 
his  mind  after  Vice-President  Arthur  and  Post- 
master-General James,  the  only  member  of  the 
Garfield  Cabinet  from  New  York,  had  voiced  their 
protest  along  with  Governor  Cornell  and  other 
New  York  Eepublican  leaders. 

Cornell  sent  a  trusted  friend  to  Washington  to 
personally  warn  the  President  that  the  proposed 
change  in  the  custom  house  would  disrupt  the 
Eepublican  party  in  New  York.  A  caucus  of  Ee- 
publican U.  S.  Senators,  with  unanimity,  declared 
its  unqualified  disapproval  of  the  President's 
course.  A  committee  was  deputized  to  wait  upon 
the  President,  offer  a  remonstrance,  and  notify 
him  that  unless  the  Eobertson  nomination  was 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

withdrawn,  the  Eepublican  party  of  New  York 
would  be  hopelessly  divided,  and  the  State  might 
be  hopelessly  surrendered  to  the  Democracy.  The 
President  received  the  committee  in  high  dudgeon. 
He  scarcely  awaited  a  declaration  of  its  mission 
before  he  roared : 

"I  do  not  propose  to  be  dictated  to.  Any  Ee- 
publican Senator  who  votes  against  my  nomina- 
tions may  know  that  he  can  expect  no  favors  from 
the  Executive.  Senators  who  dare  to  oppose  the 
Executive  will  henceforth  require  letters  of  in- 
troduction to  the  White  House. " 

CONKLING  JOINS  ME  IN  RESIGNING 

This  caused  Conkling  and  myself  to  become  the 
more  determined  to  resign.  On  the  night  of  May 
14,  by  special  messenger,  there  was  sent  to  Gov- 
ernor Cornell  the  following  letter: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  May  14,  1881. 
Hon.  ALONZO  B.  CORNELL,  Executive  Chamber, 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

SIR  :  Transmitting,  as  we  do,  our  resignations, 
respectively,  of  the  great  trust  with  which  New 
York  has  honored  us,  it  is  fit  that  we  acquaint  you, 
and,  through  you,  the  Legislature  and  people  of 
the  State,  with  the  reasons  which,  in  our  judg- 
ment, make  such  a  step  respectful  and  necessary. 
Some  weeks  ago  the  President  sent  to  the  Sen- 
ate, in  a  group,  the  nominations  of  several  per- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sons  for  public  offices  already  filled.  One  of  these 
offices  is  the  Collectorship  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  now  held  by  General  Merritt;  another  is 
the  Consul-Generalship  at  London,  now  held  by 
General  Badeau;  another  is  Charge  d 'Affaires  to 
Denmark,  held  by  Mr.  Cramer;  another  is  the 
mission  to  Switzerland,  held  by  Mr.  Fish,  a  son 
of  the  former  distinguished  Secretary  of  State. 
Mr.  Fish  had,  in  deference  to  an  ancient  prac- 
tice, placed  his  position  at  the  disposal  of  the 
new  administration,  but,  like  the  other  persons 
named,  he  was  ready  to  remain  at  his  post  if  per- 
mitted to  do  so.  All  of  these  officers,  save  only 
Mr.  Cramer,  are  citizens  of  New  York.  It  was 
proposed  to  displace  them  all,  not  for  any  alleged 
fault  of  theirs,  or  for  any  alleged  need  or  advan- 
tage of  the  public  service,  but  in  order  to  give 
the  great  office  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York  to  Mr.  William  H.  Eobertson  as  a  "  reward " 
for  certain  acts  of  his,  said  to  have  "  aided  in 
making  the  nomination  of  General  Garfield  pos- 
sible. ' '  The  chain  of  removals  thus  proposed  was 
broken  by  General  Badeau  promptly  declining  to 
accept  the  new  place  to  which  he  was  sent. 

These  nominations  summoned  every  member  of 
the  Senate  to  say  on  his  oath  whether  he  "  ad- 
vised "  such  a  transaction.  The  movement  was 
more  than  a  surprise.  We  had  been  told  only  a 
few  hours  before  that  no  removals  in  the  New 
York  offices  were  soon  to  be  made  or  even  con- 
sidered, and  had  been  requested  to  withhold  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

papers  and  suggestions  bearing  on  the  subject, 
which  had  been  sent  to  us  for  presentation  should 
occasion  arise,  until  we  had  notice  from  the  Presi- 
dent of  his  readiness  to  receive  them.  Learning 
that  the  Vice-President  was  equally  surprised, 
and  had  been  equally  misled,  we  went  to  Mr. 
James,  the  Cabinet  officer  from  our  State,  and 
learned  that  though  he  had  spent  some  time  with 
the  President  on  the  morning  of  the  day  the  nomi- 
nations were  sent  in,  no  disclosure  of  an  inten- 
tion to  send  them  had  been  made  to  him,  and  that 
he  first  knew  of  the  matter  by  hearsay  following 
the  event.  After  earnest  reflection  and  consulta- 
tion, we  believed  the  proceeding  unwise  and 
wrong,  whether  considered  wholly  in  relation  to 
the  preservation  and  integrity  of  the  public  serv- 
ice and  the  public  example  to  be  set,  or  in  relation 
also  to  the  integrity  of  the  Eepublican  party.  No 
public  utterance  of  comment  or  censure  was  made 
by  either  of  us  in  the  Senate  or  elsewhere ;  on  the 
contrary,  we  thought  that  the  President  would 
reconsider  an  action  so  sudden  and  hasty,  and 
would  at  least  adopt  less  hurtful  and  objectiona- 
ble modes  of  requiting  personal  or  individual 
service. 

PEOTEST  TO  THE  PEESIDENT 

In  this  hope  the  following  paper  was  prepared 
and  signed,  and  presented  by  Mr.  James  to  the 
President,  who  was  subsequently  informed  that 
you  had  authorized  your  name  to  be  added  also : 

154 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

To  the  President:  We  beg  leave  to  remonstrate 
against  the  change  in  the  Collectorship  of  the  Port 
of  New  York  by  the  removal  of  Mr.  Merritt  and 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Robertson.  The  proposal 
was  wholly  a  surprise.  We  heard  of  it  only  when 
the  several  nominations  involved  in  the  plan  were 
announced  in  the  Senate.  We  had  only  two  days 
before  this  been  informed  from  you  that  a  change 
in  the  customs  office  at  New  York  was  not  con- 
templated; and,  quite  ignorant  of  a  purpose  to 
take  any  action  now,  we  had  no  opportunity,  until 
after  the  nominations,  to  make  the  suggestion  we 
now  present.  We  do  not  believe  that  the  interests 
of  the  public  service  will  be  promoted  by  remov- 
ing the  present  collector  and  putting  Mr.  Robert- 
son in  his  stead.  Our  opinion  is  quite  the  reverse, 
and  we  believe  no  political  advantage  can  be 
gained  for  either  the  Republican  party  or  its  prin- 
ciples. Believing  that  no  individual  has  claims 
or  obligations  which  should  be  liquidated  in  such 
a  mode,  we  earnestly  and  respectfully  ask  that  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Robertson  be  withdrawn. 

CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR. 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

THOMAS  L.  JAMES. 

ROSCOE    CONKLINQ. 
REMONSTRANCES    PROM    THE    PEOPLE 

Immediately  after  the  nominations  were  pub- 
lished, letters  and  telegrams  in  great  numbers 

155 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

came  from  every  part  of  the  State,  from  its  lead- 
ing citizens,  protesting  against  the  proposed 
changes  and  condemning  them  on  many  grounds. 
Several  thousands  of  the  leading  mercantile  firms 
of  New  York — constituting,  we  are  informed,  a 
majority  of  every  branch  of  trade — sent  us  re- 
monstrances. Sixty  of  the  eighty-one  Eepublican 
members  of  the  Assembly,  by  letter  or  memorial, 
made  objection.  Eepresentatives  in  Congress, 
State  officials,  business  men,  professional  men, 
commercial,  industrial  and  political  organizations, 
are  among  the  remonstrants,  and  they  speak  from 
every  section  of  the  State.  Besides  the  nomina- 
tions already  referred  to,  there  were  awaiting 
the  action  of  the  Senate  several  citizens  of  New 
York  named  for  offices  connected  with  the  courts, 
district  attorneys  and  marshals.  These  were  all 
reappointments.  Most  of  them  had  been  origi- 
nally commissioned  by  Mr.  Hayes.  They  were 
certified  by  the  judges  of  the  courts  and  many 
other  eminent  persons,  who  attested  the  faithful- 
ness and  merit  of  their  service,  and  recommended 
their  continuance.  They  were  not  presented  by 
us. 

We  have  not  attempted  to  "  dictate, "  nor  have 
we  asked  the  nomination  of  one  person  to  any 
office  in  the  State.  Indeed,  with  the  sole  excep- 
tion of  the  written  request  set  forth  above,  we 
have  never  even  expressed  an  opinion  to  the  Presi- 
dent in  any  case  unless  questioned  in  regard  to 
it. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  Legislature  is  in  session.  It  is  Republican 
in  majority,  and  New  York  abounds  in  sons  quite 
as  able  as  we  to  bear  her  mission  and  commission 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  obligations  we 
owe,  with  devotion  to  the  Republican  party  and 
its  creed  of  liberty  and  right,  with  reverent  at- 
tachment to  the  great  State  whose  interests  and 
honor  are  dear  to  us,  we  hold  it  respectful  and 
becoming  to  make  room  for  those  who  may  cor- 
rect all  the  errors  we  have  made,  and  interpret 
aright  all  the  duties  we  have  misconceived. 

"We  therefore  inclose  our  resignations,  but  hold 
fast  the  privilege,  as  citizens  and  Republicans,  to 
stand  for  the  constitutional  rights  of  all  men, 
and  of  all  representatives,  whether  of  the  States, 
the  nation  or  the  people. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be, 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

ROSCOE    CONKLING. 

THOMAS  C.  PLATT. 

To  his  Excellency,  GOVERNOR  CORNELL,  Albany, 
N.  Y. 

Postmaster-General  James  at  first  agreed  to 
unite  with  us  and  resign  from  the  Cabinet.  But 
Garfield  and  Elaine  got  at  him  and  he  changed 
his  mind. 


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"THIS    INGBATE   IN    THE    WHITE    HOUSE " 

Lou.  Payn  was  at  Albany,  in  consultation  with 
Governor  Cornell,  when  news  reached  them,  May 
15,  that  Conkling's  and  my  resignations  were  on 
the  way. 

"What  does  this  mean,  marshal ?"  asked  the 
governor  in  alarm. 

"It  means,"  responded  Payn,  "that  Platt  and 
Conkling  have  resigned  their  seats  in  the  Senate ; 
that  a  messenger  will  be  here  at  noon  to-day  with 
copies  of  their  resignations,  and  a  letter  explain- 
ing why  they  have  resigned." 

Cornell,  who  was  bent  on  succeeding  himself 
the  following  year,  saw  premonitions  of  disaster, 
and  in  tones  of  trepidation  asked:  "Well,  mar- 
shal, what  is  to  be  done  ? ' ' 

"Send  for  Speaker  Sharpe  and  our  other 
friends  and  consult  as  to  the  best  line  of  getting 
even  with  this — ingrate  in  the  White  House," 
roared  Payn. 

While  Sharpe,  Cornell,  Payn  and  others  of  our 
supposed  allies  were  aimlessly  discussing  a  course 
of  action,  our  joint  letter  of  resignation  and  its 
written  justification  were  read  to  the  Legislature. 
Payn  told  me  afterward  that  he  had  rarely  wit- 
nessed more  of  a  sensation  in  the  Senate  and  As- 
sembly than  it  produced. 

The  next  day,  the  Garfield  organs  flayed  Conk- 
ling  and  myself,  and  declared  that  we  had  both 
gone  to  private  life,  where  we  belonged.  Their 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

gross  wilful  ignorance  of  the  real  cause  of  our 
voluntary  retirement  from  the  Senate  and  the 
inception  of  it,  were  disclosed  when  in  editorial 
and  cartoon  I  was  pictured  as  a  small  boy  stick- 
ing out  of  Conkling 's  pocket,  with  a  card  labeled 
"Me,  too!"  tied  to  one  of  my  hands.  That  I  had 
no  selfish  motive  in  assuming  the  attitude  I  had 
must  be  apparent  when  I  say  that  I  offered,  if 
some  other  Stalwart  than  myself  could  be  agreed 
upon  for  my  seat,  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  his 
and  Conkling 's  canvass.  I  sincerely  believed  that 
Conkling 's  return  would  prove  a  sufficient  rebuke 
to  Garfield.  I  was  more  than  willing  to  go  back 
to  my  private  business  if  a  reelection  for  Conkling 
could  be  assured. 


HOW  CONKLING  AND  I  WERE  DEFEATED  FOB  REELECTION" 

Conkling  and  I  returned  to  New  York  from 
Washington  Sunday,  May  21.  There  we  met  Vice- 
President  Arthur,  Superintendent  of  Insurance 
John  F.  Smyth,  State  Senator  Robert  H.  Strahan, 
Speaker  George  H.  Sharpe,  Stephen  B.  French, 
Louis  F.  Payn,  and  A.  B.  Johnson.  There  was  a 
long  conference.  A  majority  of  those  who  par- 
ticipated decided  that  we  owed  it  to  the  Repub- 
lican organization  to  resent  the  contumely  Gar- 
field  heaped  upon  it  and  us,  by  seeking  of  the 
Legislature  an  immediate  reelection.  Conkling, 
disgusted,  and  seemingly  anxious  to  quit  public 
life,  protested  against  any  such  course.  But  he 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

finally  agreed  to  it  when  it  was  impressed  upon 
him  that  the  very  existence  of  the  organization 
which  he  and  I  had  helped  to  build  up  was  at 
stake.  Lou.  Payn  prognosticated  that  we  would 
both  be  defeated.  Speaker  Sharpe  angrily  turned 
upon  Payn  and  exclaimed:  "We  shall  win  this 
battle  without  any  trouble. "  "Huh,  but  you  will 
be  the  first  to  desert  us,"  retorted  Payn. 

Both  of  his  predictions  were  verified. 

There  immediately  began  the  bitterest  Sena- 
torial contest  within  the  history  of  the  State  that 
I  can  recall.  The  Garfield  administration,  de- 
termined that  we  should  not  be  returned,  at  first 
put  up  former  Vice-President  William  A.  Wheeler 
against  Conkling,  and  later  Elbridge  G.  Lapham, 
of  Ontario.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  was  for  a  while 
regarded  the  administration  choice  against  me. 
But  the  administration  picked  Warner  Miller. 
The  Legislative  balloting  began  May  31.  The 
entire  month  of  June  and  more  than  half  of  July 
were  consumed  in  balloting  and  fighting.  I  be- 
came satisfied  on  the  night  of  June  30  that  by 
remaining  in  the  field  I  was  very  much  injuring 
Conkling 's  chances  for  reelection.  The  thirty-first 
ballot  taken  that  day  had  resulted  as  follows: 
For  Conkling's  seat:  Wheeler,  43;  Conkling,  32; 
Lapham,  17;  Sherman  S.  Eogers,  4;  Cornell,  2; 
Lieutenant-Governor  Hoskins,  1 — Republicans ; 
and  0.  B.  Potter,  Democrat,  53.  (Seventy-seven 
votes  were  required  to  nominate.)  For  my  seat: 
Depew,  51;  Platt,  28;  Cornell,  11;  Lapham,  2; 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Tremain,  1;  Crowley,  7 — Bepublicans ;  Kernan, 
Democrat,  53. 

During  the  night  I  consulted  with  Conkling, 
Payn  and  other  friends,  and  urged  that  I  was  sim- 
ply ruining  Conkling 's  chances  to  go  back  to 
Washington,  and  argued  that  I  should  be  allowed 
to  withdraw.  I  felt  that  I  could  much  better  be 
spared  from  the  Senate  than  could  Conkling. 
Conkling  and  Payn  vehemently  protested  that  I 
should  stick.  Before  morning  I  had  completely 
made  up  my  mind  and  told  Conkling  so.  I  re- 
quested Payn  to  go  to  Speaker  Sharpe  and  ask 
him  to  formally  withdraw  my  name. 

"I  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  We  are  in  this 
struggle  to  the  finish,  and  you  must  not  retire, " 
implored  Payn. 

'  i  Then,  if  no  one  will  carry  this  message  to 
Sharpe,  I  will  do  so  myself/'  I  replied. 

Finally  Payn  acceded  to  my  wishes.  On  the 
morning  of  July  1,  he  notified  Sharpe.  On  the 
way  to  the  capitol  Payn  happened  to  meet  Eichard 
Crowley,  who  was  really  the  personal  choice  of 
Vice-President  Arthur  for  the  Senate. 

"I  am  on  my  way  to  announce  the  withdrawal 
of  Senator  Platt,"  said  Payn. 

"For  goodness '  sake,  don't  do  it!  That  will 
jeopardize  my  candidacy,"  replied  Crowley. 

"Cannot  help  that.  Platt's  mind  is  made  up, 
and  when  it  is  made  up,  that  settles  it,"  returned 
Payn,  as  he  hastened  to  call  Speaker  Sharpe  out 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

of  the  chair  and  communicate  my  desires.    Sharpe 
agreed  to  respect  them. 

I  WITHDRAW  TO  HELP  CONKLING 

When  the  joint  convention  of  the  two  houses 
was  called  to  order,  Speaker  Sharpe  announced: 
"I  have  been  voting  for  Thomas  C.  Platt  for  Sen- 
ator. At  his  request,  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
Eepublican  party,  I  withdraw  his  name.  I  vote 
for  Crowley." 

As  a  result  of  my  withdrawal,  Crowley  got 
fourteen  more  votes,  and  Cornell  five.  The  re- 
mainder of  my  friends  scattered  among  the  other 
candidates.  The  late  John  J.  O'Brien  came  rush- 
ing into  my  room  on  hearing  of  my  retirement  and 
begged  that  I  reconsider.  "Do  this,  and  we  shall 
adjourn  the  Legislature  sine  die,  and  you  and 
Conkling  will  have  secured  your  vindication, ' '  he 
urged. 

"I  came  here  seeking  a  reelection.  I  find  it  im- 
possible to  secure  it.  I  am  injuring  Conkling 's 
chances  for  a  return  to  Washington  every  hour  I 
remain  a  candidate.  Therefore  I  have  concluded 
to  finally  withdraw, "  was  my  answer. 


In  the  midst  of  spiritless  balloting,  July  2,  we 
were  all  shocked  by  the  news  of  the  assassination 
of  President  Garfield.  I  was  simply  stunned.  So 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

were  Conkling,  Vice-President  Arthur,  and  every- 
body else.  Arthur  was  overcome  with  grief,  par- 
ticularly when  he  read  in  the  dispatches  that 
Charles  Guiteau,  the  murderer,  when  asked:  "In 
God's  name,  why  did  you  shoot  the  President?" 
replied:  "I  am  a  Stalwart,  and  I  want  Arthur 
for  President." 

Arthur,  during  the  day,  received  a  message 
from  Secretary  of  State  Elaine,  acquainting  him 
with  the  horrible  tragedy,  and  asking  him  to  hurry 
to  Washington.  Arthur,  Conkling  and  myself 
took  the  first  available  train  for  New  York.  We 
all  three  shed  tears  during  the  trip. 

We  all  realized,  too,  how — it  was  soon  proved — 
our  political  enemies  would  try  and  associate  us 
with  a  crime  committed  by  a  crazy  man.  We 
found  New  York  almost  as  much  excited  as  dur- 
ing the  draft  riots  of  1863.  On  reaching  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel,  evidence  of  insanity  among  others 
than  Guiteau  was  manifested.  The  proprietors 
of  the  hotel  had  received  a  card  written  in  a 
scrawling  hand,  reading: 

GENS:  We  will  hang  Conkling  and  Co.  at  nine 
P.M.  sharpe.  THE  COMMITTEE. 

Arthur  hurried  on  to  Washington,  where  he 
was  soon  to  succeed  Garfield.  Conkling  and  my- 
self went  at  once  to  our  rooms,  where  we  found 
other  warnings,  that,  should  Garfield  die,  Arthur, 
Conkling  and  myself  should  pay  the  penalty. 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Conkling  was  admonished  that  he  must  give  up  the 
fight  for  the  Senatorship.  I  was  not  alarmed 
much  over  the  threats  of  bodily  chastisement,  but 
I  was  over  the  dreadful  popular  misunderstand- 
ing of  our  course,  which  muddle-brained  men 
twisted  into  a  physical  assault  upon  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  I  lost  all  interest  in  the 
conflict  at  Albany  in  my  anxiety  for  the  recovery 
of  the  President,  and  joined  with  the  millions  of 
American  people  in  praying  that  he  might  be  re- 
stored to  us. 

WARNER  MILLER  WINS  MY  SEAT 

While  President  Garfield  lay  upon  his  death- 
bed the  battle  for  Conkling 's  and  my  places  was 
resumed,  though  I  took  no  part  in  it.  Conkling 
managed  his  campaign  from  New  York. 

July  7,  sixty-two  ' '  Half  -breeds  "  and  "Feather- 
heads, "  as  adherents  of  the  Garfield  administra- 
tion had  been  characterized  during  the  contest, 
called  a  caucus  of  the  Republican  legislators.  This 
was  held  the  next  day.  Depew  withdrew  from  the 
race.  Warner  Miller  was  nominated  for  my  seat, 
and  Lapham  for  Conkling 's.  Miller's  election 
was  brought  about  by  Senators  Eobertson,  Mad- 
den, McCarthy,  Wagner,  Woodin,  and  other  rep- 
resentatives of  the  national  administration.  After 
four  ballots,  upon  orders  from  Washington,  there 
was  a  stampede  for  Miller,  which  carried  him  to 
victory.  Lapham  was  later  chosen  by  a  large 
majority. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

But  the  Conkling  men  fought  to  the  finish.  They 
took  up  Wheeler  and  other  candidates  and  tried 
to  defeat  Lapham.  In  each  case  they  were 
whipped. 

July  16,  Miller  was  formally  chosen  to  succeed 
me,  chiefly  through  the  defection  of  Speaker 
Sharpe,  as  prophesied  in  May  by  Lou.  Payn.  July 
22,  Lapham  was  also  elected,  Senator  Halbert, 
the  Conkling  campaign  manager,  finally  throwing 
the  entire  Conkling  vote  to  Lapham. 

Conkling 's  pride  was  hurt  by  the  disaster  that 
befell  him.  He  gradually  relinquished  his  inter- 
est in  politics,  and  returned  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  in  which  he  shone  brilliantly  until  his 
tragic  death  in  the  blizzard  of  1888. 


I  SUCCEED   CONKLING  IN  THE  LEADEBSHIP 

Conkling 's  Stalwart  leadership  title  really  fell 
upon  me  after  our  joint  defeat  for  reelection  to 
the  Senate.  In  answer  to  accusations  frequently 
uttered  by  "  Half  -breeds "  in  the  early  eighties, 
and  my  opponents  since,  that  I  plotted  to  unhorse 
Conkling,  while  pretending  to  be  his  devoted 
deputy,  let  me  quote  St.  Clair  McKelway,  editor 
of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle,  in  an  article  headed: 
"Thomas  Collier  Platt — the  Recognized  Repub- 
lican Boss,"  printed  August  5,  1900: 

"Mr.  Platt,  so  long  as  he  was  in  alliance  with 
Mr.  Conkling  as  leader,  was  true  to  him,  and  re- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

mained  true  in  times  when  nearly  all  of  the  other 
lieutenants  proved  failures." 

I  served  Conkling  faithfully  so  long  as  he  was 
willing  to  lead.  When  disheartened,  and  stung 
by  the  refusal  of  the  Legislature  to  send  him  back 
to  the  Senate,  Conkling  voluntarily  quit  politics, 
all  his  old  allies  marshaled  themselves  about  me 
and  hailed  me  as  his  heir. 

Those  who  have  attacked  me  for  espousing  the 
cause  of  Elaine,  Conkling 's  bitterest  enemy,  in 
1884,  must  remember  that  three  years  had  elapsed 
since  Conkling  had  been  active  in  political  affairs. 
Indeed,  he  had  withdrawn  from  the  field  entire- 
ly, and  neither  I  nor  any  of  his  former  lieutenants 
could  induce  him  to  lift  hand  or  voice  in  behalf  of 
any  candidate  for  office. 


166 


CHAPTER  VILE 

1882-1884 

Annihilation  of  Folger — Surprising  official  debut 
of  Cleveland — Truth  about  the  "forged  tele- 
gram"— How  the  lie  was  worked  to  crucify 
Republican  candidates — Conkling,  disheart- 
ened, formally  hands  over  his  command  to 
me — Republicans  take  fresh  hold  and  carry 
the  State. 

EAEELY  have  the  issues  of  a  campaign  been  so 
befogged  and  Republican  candidates  so  misrep- 
resented as  in  1882.  We  entered  upon  that  can- 
vass split  asunder  by  the  schism  that  followed  the 
differences  between  President  Garfield  and  the 
Republican  organization  in  this  State.  Few  of 
us  believed  it  possible  to  repeat  the  success  of 
1879,  even  had  we  been  united. 

Governor  Cornell  had  proved  a  good  executive. 
But  many  of  us  felt  that  he  had  been  too  pro- 
nounced a  factionist  in  the  quarrel  with  Presi- 
dent Garfield.  Representative  Republicans  and 
independents  throughout  the  State  urged  that  we 
name  in  his  place  a  man  who  had  not  been  actively 
identified  with  either  the  Stalwart  or  Half-breed 
wing  of  the  party. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1882,  the  dominant  sen- 
timent appeared  to  favor  the  nomination  of 
Charles  J.  Folger,  of  Ontario,  for  Governor.  He 
had  been  a  most  capable  State  Senator;  had 
served  acceptably  as  Assistant  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States;  had  been  a  member  of  the  consti- 
tutional convention  of  1867 ;  a  member  of  the  high- 
est court  in  the  State,  which  gave  him  the  title 
of  '  '  Old  Court  of  Appeals ' ' ;  had  been  offered  the 
Attorney-Generalship  by  President  Garfield,  and, 
after  declining  that,  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  by  him,  and  was  retained  in  that  office 
by  President  Arthur.  His  spotless  character,  his 
extraordinary  ability,  and  his  avoidance  of  petty 
disputes  that  involved  the  party  leaders,  seemed 
to  make  him  an  ideal  choice  for  the  governorship. 

Long  before  the  convention  met  at  Saratoga  in 
September,  such  experts  at  getting  at  Eepublican 
sentiment  as  James  D.  Warren,  of  Erie;  Eichard 
Crowley,  of  Niagara ;  John  N.  Knapp,  of  Cayuga ; 
John  J.  O'Brien  and  Cornelius  Van  Cott,  of  New 
York,  became  convinced  that  Judge  Folger  was 
about  the  only  man  who  could  be  elected,  and  that 
Cornell  could  not  be  reflected.  I  coincided  in  that 
opinion. 

CORNELL   OUT   FOB   FIGHT 

Cornell,  however,  announced  his  determination 
to  fight  for  a  renomination.  Behind  him  were 
Senator  Warner  Miller,  of  Herkimer;  Silas  B. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Butcher,  of  Kings;  Louis  P.  Payn,  of  Columbia; 
and  Ellis  H.  Roberts,  of  Oneida.  James  M. 
Matthews,  of  Erie,  and  a  few  admirers  of  James 
W.  Wadsworth,  of  Livingston,  backed  him.  Ad- 
herents of  John  H.  Starin,  of  New  York;  Walter 
A.  Wood,  of  Eensselaer;  and  General  Eobinson, 
of  Broome,  sought  to  create  a  diversion  by  groom- 
ing them  as  dark  horses. " 

Warner  Miller  tried  to  produce  a  popular  im- 
pression that  President  Arthur  was  seeking  to 
force  the  nomination  of  Judge  Folger,  and  that 
the  President  was  making  war  on  Cornell,  a  Re- 
publican, instead  of  upon  a  Democrat.  There  was 
no  warrant  for  this  accusation.  President 
Arthur  in  the  initial  stages  of  the  contest  pub- 
licly announced  that  he  would  in  no  way  inter- 
fere, and  that  the  Eepublicans  of  New  York  must 
choose  their  own  ticket  without  expectation  of 
encouragement  or  rebuke  from  the  Federal  ad- 
ministration. 

The  fight  for  delegates  to  the  State  convention 
showed  that  on  a  preliminary  canvass  Folger 
would  have  at  least  260  votes;  Cornell,  174;  and 
Wadsworth,  74.  The  Half-breeds  exulted  much 
at  seizing  upon  the  delegates  from  Ontario 
County,  the  home  of  Judge  Folger.  Their  agents 
had  gone  to  Judge  Folger  and  assured  him  that 
local  pride  would  induce  them  to  give  him  his 
home  delegation.  The  judge  believed  them.  His 
friends  made  no  contest,  though  they  could  easily 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

have  carried  the  primaries.    They  woke  up  with 
an  anti-Folger  delegation  chosen  to  Saratoga. 
Colonel  George  Bliss  is  on  record  as  asserting: 
' '  The  vote  of  Ontario  was  stolen.   Judge  Folger 
was  told  by  the  Half-breeds  that  there  would  be 
no  opposition  to  him  there.    He  and  his  friends 
learned  too  late  that  the  Ontario  delegates  were 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing." 

FOLGER  WINS  IN   CONVENTION 

On  reaching  Saratoga  we  found  that  we  needed 
at  least  two  if  not  four  votes  to  control  the  State 
committee  which  made  up  the  preliminary  roll 
of  the  State  convention.  We  soon  gained  recruits, 
however,  through  unexpected  accessions,  and  de- 
feated the  Half-breeds  by  making  former  Senator 
Edward  M.  Madden  temporary  chairman  of  the 
convention,  by  a  vote  of  18  to  14.  That  gave  the 
Folger  men  a  preliminary  victory.  It  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  nominations  of  the  judge  and  a 
ticket  that  we  believed  would  appeal  to  the  citi- 
zenship of  the  State.  Folger  got  on  first  ballot, 
223  votes;  Cornell,  180;  Wadsworth,  69;  Starin, 
19 ;  and  Robinson,  6.  The  second  ballot  settled  the 
contest,  Folger  getting  257;  Cornell,  222;  and 
Wadsworth,  18. 

The  Democrats,  who  had  meantime  nominated 
Grover  Cleveland,  made  one  of  the  great  issues  an 
alleged  forged  telegram,  through  which  it  was 
charged  the  Folger  men  secured  control  of  the 

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organization  of  the  Saratoga  convention.  That 
there  were  no  serious  grounds  for  the  accusation 
was  established  long  before  the  canvass  ended. 
But  the  defeated  Half -breeds  joined  with  the 
Democrats  in  keeping  the  falsehood  afloat.  It 
did  much  toward  bringing  about  the  victory  of 
Cleveland,  and  disaster  for  Folger  and  the  Ee- 
publican  ticket. 

TKUTH  ABOUT  THAT  "  FORGED "  TELEGRAM 

The  facts  are  these:  At  the  meeting  of  the 
State  committee,  Stephen  B.  French,  once  Com- 
missioner of  Police  in  New  York,  and  a  warm  sup- 
porter of  Judge  Folger,  submitted  a  telegram 
from  .William  H.  Eobertson,  reading  thus: 

New  York,  September  19,  1882. 
Hon.  S.  B.  FEENCH,  Grand  Union  Hotel,  Saratoga : 
Please  act  as  my  proxy  at  meeting  of  State  com- 
mittee, and  oblige, 

W.  H.  EOBERTSON. 

That  there  might  be  no  subterfuge,  French  had 
the  message  read  to  the  committee.  No  protest 
was  offered  against  his  acting  for  Eobertson,  al- 
though Speaker  James  W.  Husted  and  other  con- 
fidants of  the  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York 
were  in  attendance  and  participated  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. The  following  day  Collector  Eobertson 
declared  in  the  newspapers  that  he  had  never  au- 

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thorized  French  to  act  for  him,   and  that  the 
telegram  was  a  forgery. 

That  French  believed  the  telegram  genuine  and 
that  he  acted  in  perfect  faith,  I  did  not  doubt  at 
the  time,  nor  have  I  any  reason  to  change  that 
impression.  If  the  telegram  was  forged,  French 
was  quite  as  much  a  victim  of  duplicity  as  was 
Eobertson.  I  accepted  then  and  I  accept  now 
Commissioner  French's  statement.  It  was  made 
immediately  after  the  rumor  was  in  circulation 
that  the  telegram  was  not  authorized,  and  ran 
about  as  follows: 

FRENCH    NAILS    THE    LIB 

"This  is  due  to  the  duplicity  of  Eobertson.  For 
six  months  the  Cornell  men  believed  that  Eobert- 
son  would  support  them  at  the  State  convention. 
Eobertson  told  Al.  Daggett  he  would  support 
Cornell.  He  told  Eichard  Crowley  he  would  sup- 
port Folger.  When  the  "Westchester  delegation 
was  elected,  I  felt  that  Eobertson  was  treacherous 
and  would  act  in  opposition  to  the  administration. 
He  did  not  attend  the  convention  in  his  own 
district.  This  he  never  failed  to  do,  in  my  recol- 
lection. A  majority  of  the  delegates  from  West- 
Chester  were  Cornell  men. 

"I  knew  that  the  State  convention  would  be 
close.  I  resolved  to  find  out  precisely  where  Mr. 
Eobertson  stood.  Last  Monday  morning  I  went 
to  see  him  at  the  custom  house.  He  was  not  there. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  left  word  that  I  would  like  to  see  him  at  Mr. 
Acton's  office  in  the  assay  office  building,  across 
the  way,  as  soon  as  he  came  in.  I  went  over  to 
Acton's  office.  Kobertson  came  over  from  the 
custom  house.  Acton  told  him  frankly  what  I  had 
said.  Kobertson  said:  'Is  French  angry  with 
me!'  Acton  told  him  I  was.  Robertson  said: 
'Well,  I  will  go  and  see  Secretary  Folger  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  I  would  prefer  to  deal  with 
him.  He  is  a  man  of  milder  temper.' 

BOBEBTSON'S  PROMISE  TO  FOLGEB 

"Kobertson  then  went  to  the  hotel.  I  followed 
him,  but  he  had  already  made  his  call  on  Secre- 
tary Folger  and  left.  I  saw  Secretary  Folger, 
and  said:  'What  did  Kobertson  say!'  The  judge 
replied:  'He  said  he  would  support  me  in  the 
convention.'  I  said:  'Judge,  Kobertson  is  cheat- 
ing you.  I  am  sure  he  is.  You  have  treated  him 
too  handsomely.  I  wish  I  had  been  here  when 
Kobertson  had  been  here.  He  is  swindling  all  of 
us.  Why,  just  look  at  those  Westchester  dele- 
gates! It  is  nonsense  for  Kobertson  to  say  he 
could  not  control  their  election.  He  has  held  the 
county  in  the  palm  of  his  hand  for  years.  If  the 
delegates  are  opposed  to  your  nomination,  he  is 
opposed  to  your  nomination.  He  is  opposed  to 
the  administration  after  having  promised  for 
months  to  support  it.' 

"We  found  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Eobertson  to  be  at  Saratoga,  as  the  anti-adminis- 
tration men  held  the  key  to  the  position  in  the 
State  committee.  On  Tuesday  afternoon  I  wrote 
the  following  despatch  at  the  telegraph  office  on 
the  floor  of  the  U.  S.  Hotel: 

"  'Saratoga  Springs,  September  19,  1882. 
"  'The    Hon.    WILLIAM   H.    EOBERTSON,    Custom 

House,  N.  Y. : 

"  'It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  you  come 
here  on  the  three-thirty  train.  State  committee 
meets  to-night.  Answer  you  will  come. 

"  'COMMISSIONER.' 

"I  showed  the  despatch  after  I  had  written  it 
to  John  F.  Smyth,  and  asked  him  if  he  thought 
Eobertson  would  recognize  from  whom  it  came, 
if  it  were  signed  merely  '  Commissioner. '  He  said 
he  thought  Eobertson  would.  At  the  time  the 
telegraph  operator  was  absent.  But  he  had 
posted  up  a  notice  that  he  would  be  back  at  1 :30 
P.M.  I  said  to  E.  A.  Elmer,  the  Second  Assistant 
Postmaster-General,  who  was  standing  at  the 
same  table  writing  a  despatch:  'Well,  we  will 
have  to  leave  our  despatches  here  for  the  operator, 
I  guess.'  We  found  a  paper  weight,  placed  both 
despatches  beneath  it,  and  sauntered  off.  In  a 
few  minutes  I  came  back,  and  finding  the  operator 
there,  asked  him  if  he  had  sent  my  despatch.  He 
said  he  had  received  no  despatch  from  me.  We 
hunted  about  for  it  on  the  floor  of  the  office  and 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

in  the  waste-paper  basket.  But  we  conld  not  find 
it.  Elmer's  despatch  we  did  find.  I  said  to  an 
acquaintance  who  was  standing  by:  'I  guess  you 
have  stolen  my  despatch.'  Then  I  wrote  another 
despatch,  similar  to  the  first,  and  told  the  operator 
that  it  ought  to  be  rushed  ahead  of  other  business, 
as  it  was  imperative  that  Mr.  Robertson  should 
get  it  in  time  to  catch  the  3 :30  train. 

"BOBEKTSON  NAMED  ME  HIS  PROXY" 

"Robertson  did  not  come.  We  did  not  act,  as 
we  did  not  have  a  majority  of  the  committee. 
Wednesday  morning  I  found,  when  I  got  up  at 
the  Grand  Union,  the  despatch  from  Robertson 
appointing  me  his  proxy.  I  had  no  doubt  of  its 
genuineness,  because  Mr.  Robertson  had  repeat- 
edly said  he  would  support  Folger  and  the  ad- 
»  ministration  in  the  convention." 

Richard  Crowley  adds  his  testimony  to  that  of 
French,  that  Robertson  had  promised  to  support 
Folger.  Crowley  said:  "In  April  last  I  met  Mr. 
Robertson  in  Washington.  We  went  up  to  the 
White  House  to  call  on  the  President.  I  said: 
'Mr.  Robertson,  whom  do  you  intend  to  support 
for  Governor  this  fall?'  He  replied:  *  Judge 
Folger.'  On  the  day  after  the  State  committee 
meeting,  early  in  September,  I  asked  him  the 
same  question.  This  time  he  said :  'I  am  in  favor 
of  Judge  Folger  against  any  other  man  in  the 
State  of  New  York.'" 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Whether  or  not  the  Eobertson  telegram  was 
forged,  I  am  satisfied  that  Commissioner  French 
believed  it  to  be  genuine,  and  acted  accordingly. 
The  testimony  of  Judge  Folger  and  Kichard 
Crowley,  that  Eobertson  had  promised  Folger  his 
support,  ought  to  convince  the  most  captious  that 
French  sought  to  carry  out  Eobertson 's  pledge. 

FOLGEB  SLAUGHTERED   AT   THE  POLLS 

It  has  always  been  disagreeable  and  indeed 
painful  for  me  to  discuss  the  political  tragedy  that 
resulted  in  November.  Judge  Folger,  as  pure 
and  talented  an  American  citizen  as  ever  lived, 
was  sacrificed.  Grover  Cleveland,  Democrat,  was 
elected  for  Governor  by  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand plurality.  The  alleged  forged  telegram  in- 
cident; the  quarrel  between  the  Stalwarts  and  the 
Half-breeds,  and  the  remaining  away  from  the 
polls  of  tens  of  thousands  of  Eepublicans,  con- 
tributed toward  a  triumph  for  a  comparatively 
unknown  man,  who  was  destined  to  become  twice 
President  of  the  United  States.  Had  the  voters 
really  understood  how  false  were  the  charges 
about  corrupt  methods  in  the  nomination  of  Fol- 
ger, and  had  they  known  and  appreciated  the  re- 
spective merits  of  the  Eepublican  factions,  the 
political  history  of  the  State  and  nation  would 
not  have  recorded  many  of  the  revolutionary 
events  which  marked  the  campaign  of  1882  and 
the  years  that  followed.  Not  since  the  formation 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  Republican  party  had  such  a  disaster  be- 
fallen it. 

At  no  time  did  the  party  and  the  organization 
appear  so  demoralized  as  when  Cleveland  was 
inaugurated  on  New  Year's  Day,  1883,  and  David 
B.  Hill,  afterward  Governor  and  U.  S.  Senator, 
became  Lieutenant-Governor. 

Undismayed  by  the  calamity  we  suffered,  a  few 
of  us  Stalwarts  sought  to  reform  our  lines  and 
prepare  for  the  campaign  of  the  following  fall, 
when  all  the  State  officers  except  Governor  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  were  to  be  elected,  and  a  new 
Assembly  was  to  be  chosen.  We  succeeded  in 
convincing  a  majority  of  the  people  that  they  had 
been  lamentably  mistaken  in  rebuking  us  at  the 
polls  the  previous  year.  We  elected  General 
Joseph  B.  Carr  Secretary  of  State,  and  every 
other  State  candidate,  except  James  W.  Husted, 
who  ran  for  State  Treasurer,  and  secured  a  ma- 
jority of  the  new  Assembly. 


177 


CHAPTER  IX 

1884-1887 

How  Arthur  provoked  organization  revolt  by  re- 
fusing to  undo  wrongs  suffered  from  Garfield 
— Causes  for  my  opposing  Arthur  and  be- 
friending Elaine  in  1884 — First  set-to  with 
Roosevelt  —  Treachery  and  mugwumpery 
overwhelm  Elaine — Arthur  the  Chesterfield* 
Elaine  the  American. 

ANOTHER  National  Convention  confronted  us  in 
1884.  The  Half-breeds  sought  to  block  my  elec- 
tion as  a  delegate  to  that  convention.  They  in- 
vaded my  home  district  and  resorted  to  all  the 
tricks  known  to  the  political  trade  to  prevent  my 
taking  a  seat  at  Chicago.  Through  the  efforts  of 
Colonel  George  "W.  Dunn  and  other  tried  friends 
I  secured  an  election.  Arthur,  who  had  succeeded 
Garfield,  became  a  candidate  for  the  Presidential 
nomination  early  in  the  year.  George  F.  Ed- 
munds, of  Vermont,  was  the  choice  of  George 
William  Curtis,  Theodore  Eoosevelt,  Warner 
Miller,  and  other  leaders,  who  were  then  fighting 
the  organization  of  which  I  had  been  made  spokes- 
man. That  organization  was  not  disposed  to  for- 
give Arthur  for  refusing  to  get  rid  of  Collector 

178 


BTJTKEKFCKB  B.   HAYES 


CHESTER   A.    ARTHUR 
179 


GBOVEB  CLEVELAND 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

William  H.  Eobertson,  whose  appointment,  as 
previously  stated,  provoked  the  resignations  of 
Conkling  and  myself  from  the  U.  S.  Senate.  The 
organization  was  wrathful  at  Arthur,  too,  because, 
though  he  joined  with  Conkling,  Postmaster- 
General  James  and  myself  in  protesting  against 
the  breaking  of  the  pledge  at  Washington  in  1881, 
he  did  little  or  nothing  as  President  to  cure  the 
sores  from  which  the  Bepublicans  of  his  own 
State  were  smarting. 

Arthur,  whose  removal  as  Collector  of  the  Port 
of  New  York  had  been  sought  by  President  Hayes, 
and  who  had  joined  with  Conkling  and  myself  in 
opposing  that  President's  war  upon  the  New  York 
organization,  answered  our  demands  that  he  oust 
Eobertson  with  the  plea  that  having  taken  a  seat 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Garfield,  he  was 
morally  bound  to  continue  the  policy  of  the  former 
President.  Our  answer  was  that  Arthur  was 
bound  neither  morally  nor  politically  nor  in  any 
other  way  to  follow  a  policy  which  had  resulted 
in  presenting  the  Empire  State  to  political  foes, 
and  had  so  disrupted  the  party  that  the  country 
was  threatened  with  being  at  the  mercy  of  a 
Democratic  national  administration  for  the  first 
time  since  1860.  Arthur  still  persisted  in  declining 
to  cooperate  with  his  former  faithful  allies.  They 
were  compelled  to  choose  between  supporting 
Blaine  or  Edmunds,  the  favorites  of  the  same  fac- 
tion that  defeated  Conkling  and  myself  for  return 
to  the  Senate  in  1881.  I  decided  to  cast  my  for- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

tunes  with  Elaine,  if  only  to  chastise  those  who 
had  been  most  virulent  in  their  assaults  upon 
Conkling  and  myself.  Just  before  departing  for 
the  Chicago  convention  of  1884  I  called  upon 
Senator  Conkling.  I  astonished  him  by  an- 
nouncing : 

I  CAST  MY  LOT  WITH  ELAINE 

"I  am  going  to  Chicago  to  fight  for  the  nomi- 
nation of  James  G.  Blaine.  What  do  you  think 
of  that? " 

Conkling  was  struck  speechless.  When  he 
finally  found  his  breath  he  exclaimed : 

"Well,  Senator  Platt,  you  are  about  to  do  what 
I  could  not  bring  myself  to  do.  You  know  what 
Blaine  did  to  us." 

"Yes,  but  Arthur  has  deserted  us.  Edmunds  is 
the  choice  of  the  most  offensive  of  our  New  York 
foes.  Blaine  is  to  be  preferred  to  either  of  them. 
Anyway,  our  friends  insist  upon  my  supporting 
him." 

Conkling,  who  was  not  to  be  a  delegate  to  Chi- 
cago, warned  me  that  I  was  committing  an 
egregious  blunder.  But  I  went  to  Chicago,  sec- 
onded the  nomination  of  Blaine,  and  returned  with 
at  least  the  satisfaction  of  having  compassed  the 
defeat  of  Arthur  and  Edmunds. 


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AETHUE,  THE  CHESTERFIELD 

Arthur  in  his  personality  was  the  beau-ideal  of 
the  American  citizen.  Six  feet  two  in  height,  sym- 
metrically built ;  a  head  adorned  with  silken,  wavy 
hair,  always  carefully  combed;  whiskers  of  the 
Burnside  variety,  invariably  trimmed  to  the  per- 
fection point;  blue,  kindly  eyes,  straight  nose, 
ruddy  cheeks — these  and  his  polished  manners 
gave  him  the  address  of  a  veritable  Chesterfield. 

Unlike  Grant,  Arthur  was  scrupulously  careful 
about  his  attire.  He  spent  a  fortune  upon  it.  He 
affected  the  choicest  tweeds  for  business  hours. 
In  the  afternoon  he  put  on  a  black  frock  coat, 
white  or  gray  waistcoat,  gray  trousers,  black  tie, 
and  shiny  silk  hat.  For  dinner  he  donned  the 
tuxedo.  He  rarely  went  to  the  theater,  opera  or 
to  a  night  reception,  except  in  full  evening 
habiliments. 

Dignity,  whether  at  confabs  with  John  J. 
O'Brien,  Michael  Cregan,  Bernard  Biglin  and 
Eobert  McCord,  on  the  porch  of  his  Lexington 
Avenue  residence,  in  the  knock-down  and  drag-out 
caucus  or  convention,  or  at  the  most  exclusive 
White  House  reception,  was  ever  a  characteristic 
of  Arthur. 

Though  "one  of  the  boys"  when  with  "the 
boys,"  he  never  lost  his  poise.  He  possessed  a 
rare  faculty  of  adapting  himself  to  conditions, 
that  made  him  a  good  "mixer."  In  that  he  was 
the  antithesis  of  Conkling.  Arthur  was  a  diplo- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

mat.  He  would  have  proved  a  most  excellent 
Secretary  of  State  or  Ambassador  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James. 

Few  regarded  Arthur  as  a  great  President.  He 
was  handicapped,  of  course,  by  entering  upon 
duties  bequeathed  him  by  a  murdered  President, 
who  was  ever  at  odds  with  his  party  in  Arthur's 
own  State.  The  mistake  Arthur  made  was  in  do- 
ing nothing  to  rectify  the  wrongs  the  New  York 
organization  suffered  through  Garfield. 

THE  "PLUMED  KNIGHT "  VANQUISHED 

I  offered  my  services  to  the  State  committee 
and  did  my  utmost  to  induce  Senator  Conkling 
to  take  the  stump  for  Elaine.  Conkling  emphatic- 
ally declined. 

The  dominant  organization  was  then  under  the 
control  of  Warner  Miller,  William  H.  Robertson, 
George  William  Curtis,  Theodore  Eoosevelt  and 
others,  who  either  openly  or  secretly  opposed 
every  political  project  I  might  suggest.  Never- 
theless, I  assisted  them  in  every  way  I  could  to 
secure  the  electoral  vote  of  New  York  to  the 
"Plumed  Knight. "  Elaine  lost  New  York  to 
Cleveland  by  a  plurality  of  about  eleven  hundred. 
Elaine's  managers  charged  that  his  failure  to 
«arry  New  York  was  due  to  fraudulent  methods 
like  the  counting  of  votes  cast  for  Benjamin  F. 
Eutler,  the  labor  candidate,  for  Grover  Cleveland, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  Long  Island  City.  The  Half-breeds  charged 
the  Stalwarts  with  knifing  Elaine.  The  Stalwarts 
made  similar  charges  against  the  Half-breeds. 
The  Stalwarts  I  could  control,  however,  were  true 
to  Elaine  and  every  other  Eepublican  candidate. 

"BUM,    BOMANISM    AND    BEBELLION" 

That  many  votes  were  undoubtedly  driven  away 
from  Elaine  by  the  "Bum,  Eomanism  and  Be- 
bellion"  attack  uttered  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Burchard, 
a  few  days  before  election,  no  one  can  question. 
Elaine  committed  a  serious  error  in  not  repu- 
diating the  fanatical  outbreak  of  this  injudicious 
clergyman,  immediately  upon  his  perpetration  of 
it.  He  either  did  not  hear  it,  as  it  was  said  amid 
the  cheering  of  a  delegation  of  Methodist  min- 
isters for  Mrs.  Elaine,  or  he  did  not  actually  gage 
the  resentment  among  those  who  were  only  too 
willing  to  ascribe  to  him  intolerance  of  any  but 
the  Protestant  religion.  That  the  Cleveland  man- 
agers were  keen  enough  to  seize  upon  and  use 
the  Burchardism  as  the  final  blow  with  which  to 
defeat  Elaine,  was  disclosed,  when  the  Sunday 
following  its  delivery,  Arthur  Pue  Gorman  and 
Calvin  S.  Brice  had  every  Eoman  Catholic  church 
placarded  with  the  three  B's.  Elaine  was  assailed 
by  priests  for  either  silently  approving  the  in- 
sult, or  delaying  a  minute  in  rebuking  its  author. 

Just  how  numerous  were  the  votes  changed,  no 
one  could  ever  correctly  calculate.  That  enough 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

deserted  Elaine  and  went  to  Cleveland  to  give  the 
latter  his  meager  plurality  in  New  York  seems  a 
reasonable  conclusion.  Burchard  had  rarely  been 
heard  of  prior  to  his  faux  pas.  He  died  detested 
by  many  and  mourned  by  few. 

ELAINE,   THE  AMEBICAN 

Serious  as  were  my  political  differences  with 
Blaine  in  the  tempestuous  days  of  1881,  I  never 
hesitated  to  express  my  admiration  for  his  charm- 
ing personality,  and  the  dashing,  chivalric  spirit 
that  caused  the  people  to  bestow  upon  him  the 
title  of  " Henry  of  Navarre,"  the  "Plumed 
Knight"  of  American  politics.  I  sat  under  him 
when  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Eepresen- 
tatives  during  the  early  seventies.  What  I  liked 
about  him  then,  as  always,  was  his  bold  and  per- 
sistent contention  that  the  citizen  who  best  loved 
his  party  and  was  loyal  to  it,  was  loyal  to  and 
best  loved  his  country.  He  was  a  foe  to  all 
Phariseeism  and  cant,  recognized  no  place  for 
guerillas  or  mugwumps  who  are  ever  ready  to 
make  terms  with  the  party  that  offers  the  great- 
est inducements,  and  who,  on  getting  their  price, 
plot  to  dominate  the  power  and  the  policy  of  that 
party.  His  reply  to  Italy:  "The  United  States 
has  never  yet  permitted  its  policy  to  be  dictated 
by  any  foreign  power,  and  it  will  not  begin  now, ' ' 
was  an  exhibition  of  his  exalted  Americanism. 
He  was  the  Clay  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

As  in  the  case  of  Clay,  his  words  cost  him  the 
Presidency.  But  for  his  passage  at  arms  with 
Conkling,  while  both  were  members  of  the  lower 
house  of  Congress,  he  would  have  been  unques- 
tionably elected  President  in  1884.  He  was  the 
most  ardent  champion  of  his  day  of  the  protective 
tariff.  His  conception  of  a  union  in  trade  with 
all  nations  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  has  re- 
sulted in  the  magnificent  increase  in  commerce 
between  North  and  South  America.  Elaine  was 
the  American  Bismarck.  Ere  he  passed  to  the 
beyond  all  our  quarrels  had  ceased  and  we  had 
become  intimate  friends. 


186 


CHAPTER  X 

1887-1888 

I  get  behind  Morton  for  U.  S.  Senator  to  defeat 
Miller — Morton  vote  delivered  solidly  to  His- 
cocky  who  is  elected. 

AFTER  Elaine's  defeat  the  Republican  party 
seemed  more  disrupted  for  a  time  than  in  1882. 
The  Half-breeds  still  held  control  of  the  dominant 
organization  in  1885.  They  nominated  Ira  Daven- 
port for  Governor.  David  B.  Hill  defeated  him, 
and  the  Democrats  continued  to  rule  the  State. 

My  friends,  early  in  1887,  besought  me  to  again 
become  a  candidate  for  U.  S.  Senator.  They  as- 
sured me  that  I  could  defeat  Warner  Miller  for 
reelection.  I  had  become  so  thoroughly  immersed 
in  business  enterprises  that  I  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  I  did  not  desire  to  return  to  public 
life.  While  retaining  an  active  part  in  politics 
I  preferred  that  some  other  man  than  myself 
should  be  the  candidate  against  Miller.  After  a 
conference  with  leaders  of  the  party  who  had  been 
acting  with  me,  it  was  determined  to  do  all  we 
could  to  elect  Levi  P.  Morton. 

The  late  0.  G.  Warren,  of  Erie;  John  H.  Camp, 
of  Wayne;  former  Senator  William  B.  Woodin, 

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JAMES  G.  BLAINB 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  Auburn;  John  J.  O'Brien  and  Sheridan  Shook, 
of  New  York;  Louis  F.  Payn,  of  Columbia;  Ham- 
ilton Harris,  of  Albany,  and  others  joined  in  the 
movement  with  alacrity.  Those  most  active  for 
Miller  were  the  late  Speaker  James  W.  Husted, 
of  Westchester;  James  W.  Wadsworth,  of  Liv- 
ingston ;  Henry  G.  Burleigh,  of  Washington ;  Wil- 
liam H.  Eobertson,  former  Collector  of  the  Port 
of  New  York;  Congressman  George  West,  of 
Saratoga;  Andrew  S.  Draper,  now  State  Com- 
missioner of  Education;  Titus  Sheard,  of  Herki- 
mer ;  and  Chairman  Chester  S.  Cole,  of  the  Repub- 
lican State  Committee. 

While  we  were  lining  up  the  Morton  forces, 
there  suddenly  appeared  a  third  candidate.  He 
was  Frank  Hiscock,  of  Syracuse,  then  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Behind  him 
were  Francis  Hendricks,  then  a  State  Senator, 
but  afterward  Superintendent  of  Public  Works 
under  Governor  Roosevelt,  and  Superintendent  of 
Insurance  under  Governor  Higgins;  and  Con- 
gressman James  J.  Belden. 

MILLER'S  DESPERATE  FIGHT 

There  were  95  Republican  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature. Forty-eight  votes  were  necessary  to  se- 
cure a  nomination  in  the  causcus.  Again  did  the 
factions  line  up  as  Stalwarts  and  Half-breeds. 
A  bitter  struggle  ensued.  Adherents  of  Miller, 
from  the  beginning,  sought  to  impress  everybody 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

answered  that  they  were  ready  to  make  that  the 
issue  if  it  was  desired. 

The  caucus  was  called  for  the  night  of  Janu- 
ary 17.  Two  ballots  were  taken.  On  the  first, 
Miller  received  44,  or  only  4  votes  less  than  a  ma- 
jority; Morton,  35;  and  Hiscock,  12.  The  second 
ballot  showed  a  loss  of  1  for  Hiscock  and  a  gain 
of  1  for  Morton.  It  then  became  apparent  that 
unless  the  Morton  and  Hiscock  men  combined, 
Miller  stood  a  good  chance  of  reelection. 

George  Z.  Erwin,  of  St.  Lawrence,  was  in  charge 
of  the  Morton  forces  on  the  floor.  He  and  Hen- 
dricks,  manager  for  Hiscock,  quickly  decided  to 
get  together  and  bring  about  an  adjournment  for 
a  day.  The  Miller  men  strenuously  fought  this 
proposition.  But  the  Morton-Hiscock  combina- 
tion finally  won  on  it  by  a  vote  of  47  to  45.  This 
gave  an  opportunity  for  breaking  in  on  the  Miller 
supporters. 

Morton  and  Hiscock  adherents  worked  like 
beavers  all  that  night  and  the  better  part  of  the 
next  day  to  divide  the  Miller  contingent.  It  not 
only  stood  intact,  but  gained  one  recruit.  Two 
more  ballots  were  taken,  Miller  getting  45,  Mor- 
ton 36,  and  Hiscock  11.  Again  did  the  Miller  men 
contest  for  more  ballots  that  day.  The  Morton- 
Hiscock  combination  remained  solid,  however,  and 
a  second  adjournment  was  ordered, 
that  a  failure  to  reelect  him  would  cause  the  Half- 
breeds  to  lose  the  slight  control  they  then  pos- 
sessed over  the  State  organization.  The  Stalwarts 

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MOKTON  GETS  OUT  FOB  HISCOCK 

Still  another  night  and  day  of  hustling  by  all 
three  factions  followed.  It  became  apparent  to  us, 
on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  that  we  conld  not 
nominate  Morton,  but  we  could  Hiscock.  That 
would  be  regarded  as  a  Stalwart  victory,  and 
would,  we  believed,  do  much  toward  ending  the 
domination  of  the  Half-breeds  for  a  long  time. 

Mr.  Morton  called  upon  Mr.  Hiscock.  He  as- 
tonished the  gentleman  from  Syracuse  by  saying : 
"If  my  supporters  regard  my  wishes,  and  I  think 
they  will,  they  will  vote  for  you  at  to-night's 
caucus.  Your  election  would,  in  my  judgment, 
produce  less  ill-feeling  in  the  party  than  would 
result  from  the  election  of  Miller." 

Hiscock  graciously  expressed  his  thanks.  After 
further  conferences  between  friends  of  the  New 
York  banker  and  the  candidate  from  Onondaga, 
it  was  agreed  that  should  neither  be  nominated 
before  the  seventh  ballot,  the  entire  Morton 
strength  would  be  transferred  to  Hiscock. 

The  break  to  Hiscock  came  on  the  seventh  bal- 
lot. Barely  has  such  organization  or  loyalty  been 
seen  as  was  manifested  when  the  thirty-six  Morton 
members  voted  solidly  for  a  candidate  who  had 
been  able  to  muster  at  the  most  only  twelve  votes. 
Morton  was  withdrawn  from  the  contest  by  Mr. 
Erwin  in  a  speech  in  which  he  paid  this  tribute 
to  the  man  who  afterward  became  Vice-President 
and  Governor  of  New  York : 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


HISCOCK  VICTOR 

"Mr.  Morton's  friends  are  numerically  stronger 
than  Mr.  Hiscock 's.  But  Mr.  Morton 's  influence 
appears  to  be  greater.  His  responsibilities,  there- 
fore, are  greater,  and  his  duty  more  clearly  de- 
fined. Recognizing  this,  he  desires  to  give  another 
evidence  of  his  personal  disinterestedness  and 
generosity  for  the  benefit  of  his  party  by  an  action 
tending  to  a  union  of  all  elements." 

Speaker  Husted,  white  with  rage  and  distress, 
protested  and  called  upon  the  Miller  men  to  stick 
to  their  candidate  to  the  finish.  It  was  of  no  use. 
Every  Morton  member  joined  the  Hiscock  com- 
pany. This  gave  Hiscock  47  and  Miller  46  votes. 
Amid  excitement  which  was  intense  and  ominous 
for  the  Half-breeds,  Assemblyman  Frost,  of 
Chautauqua,  climbed  on  the  Hiscock  wagon.  That 
settled  it.  Hiscock  was  then  declared  victor. 

Thus  was  another  nail  driven  into  the  bier  of 
the  Half-breeds.  Thus  was  Warner  Miller  re- 
tired to  private  life,  never  to  return  to  a  position 
of  great  political  prominence  again. 


192 


CHAPTER  XI 

1888 

Governor  Hill  removes  me  from  office — He  objects 
to  my  laundry  work  done  in  Owego — The  trial 
a  puppet  show — Farcical  ignorance  of  the 
jury — My  attacks  on  the  system  ultimately 
produce  corrective  legislation. 

DAVID  B.  HILL  was  once  sketched  as  a  "Peanut 
Governor."  He  did  some  surprisingly  petty 
things  while  he  was  running  the  Democratic  ma- 
chine. Many  times  he  resorted  to  the  most  trivial 
excuses  for  displacing  an  official,  merely  because 
he  happened  to  be  a  Eepublican.  After  Hill  had 
succeeded  Cleveland  in  1885,  he  adopted  the  policy 
of  "None  but  Democrats  on  Guard." 

So  far  as  possible  he  cleared  out  every  Repub- 
lican in  office,  and  put  a  henchman  of  his  own 
political  persuasion  in  his  place.  How  I  hap- 
pened to  escape  his  axe  for  nearly  three  years,  I 
never  have  been  able  to  comprehend. 

But  in  1888,  word  reached  me  from  the  State 
Executive  Chamber  that  my  resignation  as  Quar- 
antine Commissioner  would  be  gladly  accepted. 
I  refused  to  comply.  I  was  informed  that  if  I 
did  not  quit,  I  would  be  removed.  I  challenged 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Hill  to  behead  me.  He  waited  a  while.  Then  I 
was  notified  that  my  right  to  longer  hold  my  place 
would  be  contested  in  court,  on  the  ground  that 
I  was  not  a  resident  of  the  city  of  New  York.  My 
reply  was  that  for  years  I  had  resided  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel. 

Hill  suddenly  haled  me  into  court.  He  pro- 
duced the  startling  evidence  that  I  had  my  laun- 
dry work  done  in  Owego.  That  was  the  diabolical 
crime  that  was  declared  to  unfit  me  to  perform 
my  official  duties. 

I  pleaded  guilty  to  having  sent  some  collars, 
cuffs  and  shirts  occasionally  to  my  birthplace  to 
be  cleansed.  And  upon  this  confession  I  was  or- 
dered to  surrender  my  office  to  a  Hill  Democrat. 

The  trial  was  denounced  as  a  farce  by  the  news- 
papers of  the  day.  Grover  Cleveland  was  Presi- 
dent. The  intelligence  of  the  jury  and  its  affec- 
tion for  the  Democratic  State  boss  were  disclosed, 
when  its  members  were  asked  who  really  was 
President  of  the  United  States.  "Oh,  that's  easy. 
Dave  Hill,  of  course,"  answered  a  number  of 
them. 

HILL'S  MAN,  MAYHEM,  MY  " JUDGE" 

Supreme  Court  Justice  S.  L.  Mayhem,  of 
Schoharie,  a  devoted  friend  of  Governor  Hill,  pre- 
sided at  the  "trial."  I  regarded  him  then,  as  I 
have  ever  since  regarded  him,  unfit  to  occupy  the 
high  judicial  station  to  which  he  had  been  elevated. 
I  never  hesitated  to  say  so.  When  I  was  assailed 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

by  him  in  a  personal  letter,  a  year  after  I  had  been 
removed,  I  did  not  mince  words  in  my  reply. 

Under  date  of  December  4,  1889,  Judge  May- 
hem addressed  me  the  following  abusive  missive: 

Schoharie,  N.  Y.,  December  4,  1889. 
To  Hon.  THOMAS  C.  PLATT. 

DEAK  SIB:  About  the  19th  of  January,  1889, 
you  dictated  to  Mr.  North,  the  acting  political 
editor  of  the  Albany  Express,  an  article  which 
was  on  that  day  published  in  that  paper,  a  most 
malicious,  unprovoked  and  false  libellous  attack 
upon  me  as  an  individual  and  judge ;  in  which  you, 
in  the  most  unmistakable  and  unequivocal  terms, 
charge  me  as  a  judge,  with  collusion  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  by  extra- 
judicial  methods,  things  which  are  forbidden  in 
the  regular  course  of  law;  and  you,  among  other 
libellous  charges,  add:  "Such  a  thing  could  not 
have  happened  under  any  other  Governor  than 
David  B.  Hill,  and  we  are  fain  to  believe  that  it 
could  not  have  happened  before  any  other 
Supreme  Court  Justice  in  this  State,  than  Justice 
Mayhem. ' ' 

As  the  author  of  this  libel,  you,  of  course,  are 
familiar  with  it,  and  the  repetition  of  it  here  is 
therefore  unnecessary. 

I  have  waited  with  great  confidence  for  a  vin- 
dication of  my  judicial  action  in  that  trial,  by  the 
Appellant  Courts,  which  has  at  last  been  prom- 
ulgated by  the  unanimous  decision  of  the  Court 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

of  Appeals.  But  my  private  and  judicial  char- 
acter remains  unvindicated.  That  can  only  be 
done  by  a  full  and  complete  retraction  of  the  libel 
by  its  authors,  or  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury  in  a 
civil  or  criminal  proceeding  in  the  courts,  to  which 
a  citizen  may,  as  a  poor  but  last  resort,  appeal  for 
vindication. 

The  lapse  of  time  since  the  publication  of  the 
libel  had  so  healed  the  wound  inflicted  on  my  self- 
respect  and  pride  of  character,  that  I  would  prob- 
ably have  passed  the  matter  by,  but  for  a  fresh 
assault  made  upon  me  in  the  New  York  Press  of 
the  27th  ult.  That  paper,  owned  largely  by  you, 
in  an  article  doubtless  inspired  by  you,  smart- 
ing under  the  effect  of  the  recent  decision  by  the 
'Court  of  Appeals,  again  refers  to  the  trial  before 
me,  and  characterizes  me  as  a  judge,  not  long  be- 
fore the  trial,  lifted  from  the  obscurity  of  the 
Schoharie  County  bar  to  the  Supreme  Court,  by 
Governor  Hill. 

At  the  time  of  this  trial,  you  must  have  known 
that  I  did  not  hold  the  position  of  Supreme  Court 
Judge  by  the  commission  of  Governor  Hill,  but  by 
the  vote  of  legal  voters  (voting  where  they  re- 
sided) of  the  Third  Judicial  District  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  a  position  to  which  I  was  unani- 
mously nominated,  at  a  judicial  convention,  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  best  men  of  that  district, 
whose  acts  were  open  and  notorious,  in  the  day- 
time, which  could  be  attested  by  a  multitude  of 
witnesses,  who  were  not  compelled  to  use  step- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

ladders  to  look  through  a  transom  by  gas-light  to 
witness  what  occurred  or  how  it  was  done. 

I  was  in  no  way  instrumental  in  having  your 
case  brought  before  me,  but  found  the  case  on  the 
calendar  of  the  regular  circuit,  to  which  I  was 
by  law  and  the  rules  of  the  court  assigned,  and 
tried  it  the  same  as  I  would  have  tried  any  other 
case  between  any  other  parties.  I  recognized  no 
politics  in  the  case,  except  such  as  was  in  my  judg- 
ment improperly  sought  to  be  forced  into  it  by 
one  of  your  own  counsel. 

The  object  of  this  letter  is  to  give  you  fair  and 
reasonable  notice  that  unless  proper  and  suitable 
retraction  is  made  by  you,  in  as  public  a  manner 
as  the  libel  was  published,  I  shall  seek  my  vindi- 
cation before  a  jury  of  that  county  in  which  you 
are  pleased  to  say  that  I  was  an  obscure  member 
of  the  bar. 

Truly  yours, 

S.  L.  MAYHEM, 

Schoharie,  N.  Y. 
THOMAS  C.  PLATT,  New  York  City. 

HIS  UNFITNESS  FOB  HIS  JOB 

This  was  my  reply: 

United  States  Express  Company,  Office  of  the 
President,  49  Broadway,  New  York. 

December  7,  1889. 
Hon.  S.  L.  MAYHEM,  Schoharie,  N.  Y. 

DEAR  SIB  :    I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

4th  inst.  I  have  no  retraction  to  make,  either  pub- 
licly or  privately,  of  any  statement  I  ever  uttered 
with  reference  to  your  relations  as  a  Supreme 
Court  Justice  to  the  suit  instigated  by  Governor 
Hill  to  oust  me  from  the  office  of  Quarantine  Com- 
missioner. I  deny,  however,  that  I  dictated  to 
Mr.  North,  or  any  other  man  connected  with  the 
Albany  Express,  the  editorial  article  of  January 
19,  1889,  to  which  you  refer,  or  that  I  even  sug- 
gested that  it  be  written.  I  never  saw  it  nor  heard 
of  it  until  it  appeared  in  print,  and  was  not  in 
any  way  directly  or  indirectly  responsible  for  its 
appearance. 

I  was  not  aware,  until  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
of  the  alleged  "fresh  assault  made  upon  you  in 
the  New  York  Press  of  the  27th  ult.,"  to  which 
you  refer,  and  have  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the 
paternity  of  the  article.  I  own  no  stock  or  in- 
terest whatever  in  said  newspaper,  and  never  have 
owned  any. 

Allow  me  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that  the  gra- 
tuitous personal  insult  conveyed  in  your  communi- 
cation convinces  me,  if  nothing  else  had,  that  you 
are  unfit  for  the  exalted  position  you  occupy. 

Yours  truly, 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

OUR  DISGRACEFUL   JURY   SYSTEM 

If  I  am  not  mistaken,  Judge  Mayhem  did  not 
continue  on  the  bench  longer  than  the  term  he 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  then  serving.  That  indicated  what  the  peo- 
ple thought  of  him.  If  I  helped  to  dethrone  him, 
I  am  thankful.  My  experience  with  the  Hill  jury 
reminds  me  that  I  once  wrote  a  number  of  at- 
tacks on  the  wretched  jury  system  that  disgraced 
the  State  in  1869,  and  later.  These,  together  with 
aroused  public  sentiment,  helped  to  secure  amend- 
ments to  the  laws  by  Eepublican  Legislatures  in 
the  early  nineties,  which  eventually  brought  about 
a  correction  of  abuses.  One  of  my  onslaughts 
follows : 

Hamlet,  in  his  soliloquy,  favors  the  public  with 
a  general  inventory  of  "bare  bodkin"  stimulators 
and  suicide-promoters,  and  makes  "the  law's  de- 
lay" one  of  the  prolific  sources  of  mortal  misery, 
despair  and  destruction.  In  those  dark  ages,  jus- 
tice was  universally  regarded  not  only  as  blind, 
but  deaf,  dumb  and  rheumatic;  and  it  is  painfully 
apparent  that  the  Eoyal  Dane  had  endured  bitter 
personal  experiences  of  old  English  Chancery 
practice.  It  is  more  than  possible  that,  at  the 
very  moment  he  gave  utterance  to  that  memorable 
lamentation  of 

"To  be  or  not  to  be," 

if  he  had  been  surprised  with  the  announcement 
of  a  favorable  verdict  in  his  favorite  lawsuit,  a 
complete  reformation  might  have  been  effected 
in  his  character  and  conduct  and  Shakspeare's 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

occupation  would  have  gone.  At  any  rate,  it  is 
safe  to  presume  that  the  text  of  that  melancholy 
soliloquy  would  have  been  slightly  amended  if 
the  "Bard  of  Avon"  had  survived  until  the  pres- 
ent greenback  era;  these  times  so  pregnant  with 
half-witted  magistrates,  short  summonses,  sum- 
mary proceedings,  compromise  verdicts,  Cole- 
Hiscock  forces,  political  judges,  citizen  mills  and 
injunction  factories.  The  truth  is,  it  is  not  the 
law's  delay,  but  the  law's  doubt,  which  nowadays 
makes  the  pursuit  of  justice  so  aggravating  and 
brings  the  tortured  client  to  the  serious  contem- 
plation of  Hamlet's  question  and  conclusion. 


JURY  "BAMBOOZLERS,"  "HEROES" 

In  the  days  of  the  Eoyal  Dane,  the  brave  liti- 
gant knew  that  a  propitious  verdict  was  only  a 
rare  question  of  time;  in  the  days  of  the  live 
Yankee  a  satisfactory  solution  of  a  lawsuit  is 
supposed  to  be  a  simple  matter  of  good  luck  and 
sharp  legal  "log-rolling."  A  modern  novice  go- 
ing to  law  to  secure  his  rights  is  as  proper  a  sub- 
ject for  compassion  as  a  greenhorn  taking  to  Wall 
Street  to  get  rich.  Nothing  but  a  special  guar- 
dianship exercised  by  some  shrewd  operator  at 
the  bar  or  "the  board"  will  save  either  from  ruin 
or  suicide.  The  hero  of  the  period  is  he  who 
can  most  successfully  bamboozle  a  jury  or  "cor- 
ner the  street."  The  fact  has  become  notorious, 
that  with  mixed  American  juries,  personal  preju- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

dices,  political  spites  and  all  manner  of  motives, 
except  "the  law  and  the  evidence,"  control  con- 
clusions and  regulate  verdicts. 

Speaking  of  compromise  verdicts  calls  to  inind 
a  case  in  point,  which  occurred  within  a  judicial 
district  which  boasts  of  the  intelligence  of  its 
panels,  and  within  a  county  where  lawyers  lament 
over  the  brevity  of  the  .circuit  calendars.  At  a 
regular  term  of  the  March  circuit,  a  certain  cause 
was  called  in  its  order,  being  an  action  on  a  con- 
tract. The  plaintiff  demanded  damages  in  the 
sum  of  thirteen  hundred  dollars.  The  evidence, 
although  voluminous,  was  not  conflicting,  except 
upon  immaterial  points.  The  charge  of  his  Honor, 

Judge  B ,  was  void  of  ambiguity  and  pointing 

in  one  direction.  All  agreed  that  it  was  a  clear 
case  for  the  plaintiff.  The  jury  retired  late  in 
the  afternoon  and,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  all 
concerned,  remained  out  all  night  long.  The  next 
morning,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  they  came 
into  court,  hungry,  sleepy  and  sulky,  and  deliv- 
ered a  verdict  for  the  full  amount  demanded  and 
expected. 

A  revelation  of  the  secret  history  of  their  pro- 
longed deliberation  disclosed  the  source  of  the 
trouble  in  the  person  of  one  independent  reasoner 
and  peculiar  interpreter  of  testimony,  with  strong 
personal  prejudices  against  the  plaintiff,  and 
pecuniary  obligations  to  the  defendant,  who  ex- 
hausted all  of  those  hours  and  his  resources  of 
argument  to  bring  over  the  stubborn  eleven  to  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

conclusion  of  no  cause  of  action.  At  last  the 
obstinate  juror  succumbed,  and  consented  to  a 
plan  of  compromise  upon  the  basis  of  each  indi- 
cating by  ballot  his  estimate  of  the  damage  to  be 
awarded,  and  the  average  be  made  the  measure 
of  the  verdict.  The  canvass  of  that  vote  revealed 
ten  ballots  for  the  plaintiff's  full  claim,  one  for 
"no  cause,"  and  one  for  precisely  double  the  de- 
manded damage.  One  provident  twelfth  of  that 
curious  dozen  proved  equal  to  the  emergency  and 
brought  up  the  average  to  its  just  proportion. 

"GLOKIOUS  UNCERTAINTY  "  OF  LAWS 

Another  remarkable  illustration  of  the  glorious 
uncertainty  of  the  law  was  developed  in  one  of 
those  great  American  contests,  called  horse-suits, 
which  came  on  for  trial  last  summer  in  a  justice's 
court,  not  a  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  legal 
hub  of  Tioga  County.  It  was  a  jury  trial,  and 
the  promiscuous  dozen  were  collected  by  the 
usual  scouring  process.  In  that  number  was  in- 
cluded a  surly,  stubborn,  stolid,  self-willed  Dutch- 
man, a  good  butcher  and  a  bitter  hater.  The  trial 
proceeded  with  the  spirit  and  dignity  appertain- 
ing to  such  tribunals,  but  the  plaintiff  managed 
to  make  his  case  so  strong  that  an  unprejudiced 
observer  could  have  seen  no  real  cause  for  con- 
tention or  delay  in  settling  verdict.  Yet,  when 
the  jury  retired  for  deliberation,  it  was  found  they 
were  a  unit,  with  the  exception  of  a  pugnacious 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gentleman  from  Germany,  who  demanded  a  ver- 
dict for  the  defendant.  The  united  batteries  were 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  heavy  Dutch  citadel, 
with  Quaker  guns  of  suasion  and  solid  shot  of 
argument,  but  the  fleshly  fortress  firmly  and 
silently  resisted  every  attack.  Finally,  after  ex- 
hausting all  their  resources,  the  irate  five  insisted 
upon  a  disclosure  of  the  reasons  for  his  convic- 
tions and  intimated  that  they  would  continue  in 
session  until  he  would  make  up  his  mind  to  give 
the  plaintiff  judgment.  This  threat  stirred  up 
the  Dutch  "dander,"  and  arising  in  his  majesty 
and  shaking  his  brawny  fist,  the  conscientious 
juryman  thusly  delivered  himself:  "I  dells  you, 
py  shinks,  der  pishmires  shall  dake  me  troo  der 
keyhole,  pefore  I  give  ter  tarn  rascal  zhooghment. 
Somedimes,  two  years  ago,  he  sheet  me  on  some 
sheeps." 

This  confession  of  faith  abruptly  terminated 
the  case  without  agreement. 

ABOUT  So  So. 


203 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON 
20-i 


CHAPTER  XII 
1888-1891 

I  head  the  delegation  to  the  National  Convention 
and  help  nominate  Harrison — Carry  New 
York  for  him — Am  denied  the  promised 
Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury — Decline  the 
Spanish  mission — Nominate  Fassett  for  Gov- 
ernor— Flower's  election — Renewed  demands 
for  my  head — Address  to  young  men. 

IT  was  in  1888  that  the  Stalwarts  obtained  su- 
preme and  undisputed  control  of  the  New  York 
State  organization  for  the  first  time  in  a  number 
of  years.  We  went  to  the  Chicago  convention  un- 
pledged to  any  candidate  for  President.  My  per- 
sonal preference  was  the  late  Eussell  A.  Alger, 
of  Michigan.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  gave  the  New 
York  delegation  a  little  dinner.  Before  it  was 
over,  the  delegation  was  first  pledged  to  him,  and 
then  to  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana.  Chaun- 
cey called  it  a  "harmony  dinner"  before  Harrison 
was  nominated.  I  guess  Chauncey  thought  we 
were  jollying  him  and  Colonel  Elliot  F.  Shepard, 
who  managed  his  campaign,  when  we  suddenly 
broke  away  and  cast  almost  the  entire  vote  of  the 
delegation  for  the  Hoosier.  Levi  P.  Morton,  of 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

New  York,  was  named  for  Vice-President.  He 
was  in  high  favor  in  the  East,  and  contributed 
much  to  the  triumph  that  followed. 

Immediately  after  the  nomination  of  Harrison, 
friends  suggested  to  him  that  I  be  given  the  Sec- 
retaryship of  the  Treasury  in  case  he  was  elected. 
Indeed,  a  promise  of  this  portfolio,  which  I  and 
members  of  the  National  Committee  regarded  as 
binding,  was  made.  That  promise  was  either 
forgotten  or  ignored.  Anyway,  it  never  was 
fulfilled. 

MY  AMBITION  TO  BE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY 

I  am  frank  to  admit  that  one  of  the  most  poign- 
ant disappointments  of  my  life  was  my  failure 
to  become  at  some  time  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
It  was  a  portfolio  for  which  I  believed  myself  to 
be  better  equipped  than  for  any  other.  I  had 
from  my  college  days  made  an  assiduous  study  of 
financial  questions.  As  president  of  express,  rail- 
road, coal  and  iron,  and  other  corporations,  I 
had  learned  a  great  deal  about  how  to  manage 
fiscal  affairs.  Indeed,  I  had  for  many  years  been 
very  ambitious  to  conduct  the  Government 
finances.  When  I  received  what  my  friends  and 
myself  accepted  as  a  positive  pledge  from  Presi- 
dent Harrison  that  he  would  gratify  my  aspira- 
tion, I  felt  that  I  had  nothing  more  in  the  world  to 
seek.  But  when,  notwithstanding  a  letter  in  Presi- 
dent Harrison's  own  handwriting  promising  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

appointment,  I  was  suddenly  informed  that  Will- 
iam Windom,  of  Minnesota,  had  been  selected,  I 
felt  that  there  was  little  use  of  pinning  my  faith 
upon  anybody,  or  training  myself  for  high  of- 
fice. To  some  it  would  have  been  a  bit  of  solace 
that  no  other  New  Yorker  was  made  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  I  had  something  to  do  with  pre- 
venting the  selection  of  one  man  who  had  set  his 
heart  on  the  same  office ;"  that  was  Warner  Miller. 

WHY  MILLER  DID   NOT   GET  IT 

Soon  after  election,  I  was  notified  that  the  Union 
League  Club  of  New  York  City  was  to  meet  and 
indorse  Warner  Miller  for  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Miller  had  just  retired  from  the  U.  S. 
Senate,  and  had  the  previous  year  defeated  him- 
self for  Governor  by  making  what  I  regarded  as 
a  very  injudicious  speech  on  the  liquor  question. 
I  was  not  a  member  of  the  Union  League  Club. 
I  was  not  known  to  possess  many  friends  there. 
The  few  I  had,  however,  got  together.  Though  Jo- 
seph H.  Choate,  afterward  Ambassador  to  Great 
Britain,  had  in  his  pocket  a  resolution  indorsing 
Miller  for  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury,  it 
was  never  offered.  Choate,  never  known  to  bother 
much  about  the  details  of  politics,  arrived  at  the 
meeting  late.  Some  one  whispered  to  him  that  a 
canvass  of  the  members  showed  a  majority  against 
Miller,  and  that  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  submit 
a  resolution  unless  its  adoption  could  be  assured. 
Choate  quit. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Miller  was  never  indorsed  by  the  Union  League 
Club,  nor  was  he  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
William  Windom,  of  Minnesota,  took  the  place, 
and  President  Harrison  finally  permitted  me  to 
name  General  Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  from  my  own 
county,  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

In  July,  1890,  Mr.  Elaine,  Secretary  of  State, 
apparently  deploring  the  differences  between 
President  Harrison  and  my  friends,  sought  to 
act  as  a  mediator.  He  urged  the  President  to  try 
and  square  matters  by  offering  me  a  foreign  mis- 
sion. Harrison,  thinking  he  might  heal  the  wound 
caused  by  his  refusal  to  make  me  a  member  of  his 
Cabinet,  authorized  Secretary  Elaine  to  offer  me 
the  Spanish  mission.  Secretary  Elaine  wrote  this 
letter,  which  never  before  was  published: 

OFFERED  SPANISH  MISSION 

Department  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 

June  28,  1890. 
MY  DEAB  MB.  PLATT: 

By  the  President's  direction,  and  with  great 
personal  pleasure  myself,  I  tender  to  you  the  mis- 
sion to  Spain,  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of 
Hon.  T.  W.  Palmer,  of  Michigan. 

Hoping  that  your  convenience  and  your  desires 
will  combine  to  persuade  you  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion, I  am, 

Your  friend,  sincerely, 

JAMES  G.  ELAINE. 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Inclined  to  suspect  that  Harrison  was  trying 
to  get  me  out  of  the  country,  I  held  the  Elaine 
letter  until  July  5th,  when  I  declined  the  portfolio 
offered,  in  this  letter: 

New  York,  July  5,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  MB.  ELAINE  : 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  esteemed  favor  of  the 
28th  ult.,  conveying  to  me  the  President's  instruc- 
tions and  your  compliments,  tendering  the  mission 
to  Spain  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Gov- 
ernor Palmer,  of  Michigan. 

While  properly  esteeming  the  honor  conferred, 
and  duly  appreciating  this  evidence  of  the  Presi- 
dent's confidence  and  your  personal  regard,  I  feel 
constrained  to  return  my  declination  of  the  posi- 
tion. Numerous  business  engagements  and  obli- 
gations preclude  the  possibility  of  my  accepting 
the  responsibility  of  office  of  any  name  or  nature, 
local  or  Federal,  however  honorable  and  alluring 
it  may  be.  I  shall  be  content  to  continue  to  serve 
in  the  ranks,  asking  no  other  reward  than  the 
proud  consciousness  of  possessing  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  those  true  Republicans,  who,  like 
yourself,  have  made  the  " Grand  Old  Party" 
immortal. 

Yours  faithfully, 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

Harrison  later  recognized  the  organization,  of 
which  I  had  now  become  everywhere  the  acknowl- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

edged  leader,  by  appointing  J.  Sloat  Fassett  Col- 
lector of  the  Port  of  New  York.  Fassett 's  ap- 
pointment was  about  the  only  other  important  one 
made  by  Harrison  for  the  State  organization, 
though  Cornelius  Van  Cott,  named  for  Postmaster 
of  New  York,  was  classed  as  an  organization  man. 


HARBISON   IGNORES   THOSE   WHO   ELECTED   HIM 

Because  of  President  Harrison's  refusal  to  com- 
ply with  what  were  deemed  reasonable  requests 
of  my  associates  and  myself,  as  well  as  members 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  machine,  a  good  deal 
of  discontent  was  soon  exhibited.  The  Hill  Demo- 
cratic machine  absolutely  dictated  State  patron- 
age. And  yet  a  Kepublican  President,  who  but 
for  the  devoted  exertions  of  the  regular  party  or- 
ganization of  New  York,  it  was  maintained,  would 
have  been  forced  to  abandon  his  White  House 
chair  to  Grover  Cleveland,  either  forgot  or  ig- 
nored the  men  most  responsible  for  his  victory. 
We  were  quite  as  resentful  when  Harrison  turned 
a  frigid,  contemptuous  shoulder  to  Chairman 
Matthew  S.  Quay,  of  the  National  Committee. 

But  for  Quay's  masterful  conduct  of  the  cam- 
paign in  New  York  State,  where  he  stopped  tens 
of  thousands  of  fraudulent  votes,  Harrison  never 
would  have  been  President.  The  skill  of  the 
Pennsylvania  manager  must  be  apparent,  when 
the  returns  showed  a  fourteen  thousand  plurality 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

for  Harrison  over  Cleveland,  while  Hill  defeated 
Miller  for  Governor  by  about  eighteen  thousand. 

QUAY  GREATEST  POLITICAL  GENIUS 

Matthew  S.  Quay  was,  in  my  judgment,  the 
ablest  politician  this  country  ever  produced.  He 
could  and  did  win  the  greatest  and  hardest  bat- 
tles with  or  without  money.  He  was  always  a 
conservative  in  the  protection  of  business  inter- 
ests, and  invariably  maintained  the  Pennsylvania 
view  in  that  respect.  He  believed  that  business 
men  had  a  right  to  profit,  and  therefore  could  al- 
ways command  money  in  any  amount  when  he 
desired  it.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  he  discov- 
ered that  the  money  of  special  interests  in  special 
campaigns  had  been  raised  against  him,  he  was 
accustomed,  as  he  put  it,  to  "raise  the  fiery  cross" 
and  go  to  the  people  direct. 

He  exhibited  consummate  skill  in  calculating 
political  quantities.  The  secret  of  his  success  in 
politics  was  in  finding  out  how  many  voters  he 
had  with  him,  and  if  he  did  not  have  enough,  find 
where  he  could  get  them;  and  then  he  got  them. 
He  knew  that  success  depended,  many  times,  on 
the  smallest  fraction,  and  he  was  constantly  after 
that  fraction.  That  was  shown  by  him  in  1888 
when,  as  chairman  of  the  National  Committee, 
he  carried  New  York  State  for  Harrison  by  about 
fourteen  thousand  plurality. 

Quay  was  small  in  stature,  had  sharp,  almond- 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

like  eyes,  was  exceedingly  reticent  to  those  who 
did  not  know  him  intimately,  but  most  charming 
and  approachable  to  his  confidants.  Instead  of 
being,  as  he  was  popularly  supposed,  a  plebeian, 
without  education  or  literary  acquaintance,  he 
was  very  fond  of  the  best  books  and  the  standard 
authors  and  literature,  and  was  a  great  student 
of  science.  He  possessed  one  of  the  finest  libraries 
in  the  country. 

Quay  was  one  of  the  best  informed  men  on 
heraldry  in  America.  He  once  dumbfounded  uni- 
versity presidents  and  other  cultured  guests,  at  a 
dinner  given  by  Charlemagne  Tower,  by  proving 
that  they  were  all  wrong  as  to  the  origin  of  a 
certain  family  and  coat-of-arms. 

Quay  once  personally  told  Eoosevelt  that  he 
(Eoosevelt)  was  responsible  for  his  reelection  to 
the  United  States  Senate  in  the  later  nineties. 
When  Roosevelt  expressed  surprise,  Quay  laughed 
and  answered:  "Why,  when  John  Wanamaker 
and  others  were  trying  to  defeat  me,  I  declared 
for  you  for  Vice-President.  Then  the  anti-Quay 
movement  collapsed. " 

BEED,  THE  PARLIAMENTARY  CZAR 

In  having  our  recommendations  for  office  turned 
down  by  President  Harrison,  I  had  the  company, 
not  only  of  Quay,  but  Speaker  Thomas  B.  Eeed. 

Speaker  Eeed,  than  whom  no  man  ever  up  to 
his  day  ran  the  lower  branch  of  Congress  with 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

such  an  imperial  sway,  broke  with  Harrison  the 
moment  he  learned  that  the  President  had  re- 
fused to  consider  his  recommendation  for  the  Col- 
lectorship  of  the  Port  of  Portland,  Me.,  his  own 
home,  but  had  appointed  a  son  of  Neal  Dow,  Pro- 
hibitionist agitator,  because  Secretary  of  State 
Elaine  and  Senator  William  P.  Frye  urged  it. 
Eeed  denounced  this  as  a  gratuitous  insult  to  the 
third  greatest  officer  in  the  United  States. 

He  fulminated  against  Harrison  in  profane  lan- 
guage, in  which  he  was  as  original  and  adept  as 
any  one  I  ever  have  known,  declined  ever  after  to 
enter  the  White  House,  and  refused  to  even  meet 
Harrison,  I  am  informed,  until  the  day  of  his 
death. 

Eeed,  in  his  personal  appearance,  little  betok- 
ened the  intellectual  giant  and  man  of  iron  he 
was.  But  while  he  was  a  veritable  Goliath  in 
stature,  his  bouncing  body,  topped  by  a  small 
head,  reminded  one  of  an  inflated  balloon  with  a 
peg  for  a  summit.  His  usual  twangy,  drawling 
manner  of  speech  caused  one  who  knew  him  not 
to  mistake  him  for  an  Aroostook  farmer,  possessed 
of  an  education  such  as  the  old  Maine  colleges 
used  to  afford.  He  was  proud,  unforgiving — re- 
lentless in  his  warfare  upon  those  with  whom  he 
disputed.  He  lost  many  a  friend  by  consider- 
ing as  a  personal  affront,  to  be  punished  by  the 
quickest  and  even  brutal  method,  any  act 
offensive  to  him.  He  was  constantly  measuring 
swords  with  Elaine,  Frye  and  Hale,  of  his  home 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

State  of  Maine;  was  frequently  at  loggerheads 
with  Harrison,  McKinley  and  Joseph  H.  Manley, 
his  closest  friend,  and  seemed  never  to  cultivate, 
even  if  he  knew,  diplomacy. 

HOW  REED  LOST  THE  PRESIDENCY 

His  domineering,  revengeful  characteristics  lost 
him  the  only  chance  he  ever  had  for  being  named 
for  the  Presidency.  He  was  in  1896  the  choice  of 
a  number  of  New  England  States,  and,  after  Mor- 
ton, was  the  preference  of  New  York.  But  he  had 
unwittingly,  perhaps,  antagonized  so  many  States 
that  when  Manley,  his  manager,  reached  the  St. 
Louis  convention,  he  was  satisfied  that  his  nomi- 
nation was  an  impossibility.  When  Manley  sur- 
rendered to  Hanna  and  McKinley,  and  withdrew 
Reed,  the  Speaker,  who  had  set  his  heart  on  head- 
ing the  ticket,  caused  the  sparks  to  fly  off  tele- 
graph wires  in  registering  his  rebukes.  Sam 
Fassenden,  of  Connecticut,  was  so  infuriated  over 
Manley 's  capitulation,  that  he  dressed  him  down 
with:  "Joe,  God  hates  a  quitter." 

Reed  hardly  condoned  Manley 's  desertion  until 
his  dying  day. 

It  was  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, however,  that  Reed  shone  brilliant,  belliger- 
ent, forceful  and  Draconic.  His  adversaries 
called  him  Autocrat,  Czar,  Tyrant.  He  merely 
maintained  that  the  will  of  the  majority  was  law ; 
that  members  of  a  filibustering  minority  could 

214 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

not  be  present  and  absent  simultaneously;  that 
Congress  was  a  business,  not  merely  a  deliberative 
body.  He  was  a  past-master  in  directing  legisla- 
tion, as  adroit  a  parliamentarian  as  I  ever  knew, 
and  as  presiding  officer  of  the  fifty-first  House, 
achieved  a  reputation  that  for  fearlessness,  devo- 
tion to  country  and  party  was  well-nigh  matchless. 

.    0 

HARRISON,   THE   QUARRELSOME 

Harrison  not  only  became  embroiled  with  Quay, 
Eeed  and  others,  but  also  William  McKinley,  aft- 
erward President,  but  then  floor  leader  of  the 
House.  Harrison  quarreled  with  him  over  tariff, 
Federal  elections,  ship  subsidy,  and  other  legisla- 
tion, and  before  a  year  of  his  administration  had 
passed,  appeared  on  good  terms  with  few  leaders 
of  his  party,  except  James  G.  Elaine,  his  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  "  Uncle  Jerry "  Eusk,  his  rol- 
licking Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

Harrison  soon  became  known  as  the  "  White 
House  Iceberg."  His  real  initial  local  blow  at 
the  New  York  organization  was  the  appointment 
of  Colonel  Joel  B.  Erhardt  as  Collector  of  the 
Port.  He  made  this  at  the  behest  of  the  Union 
League  Club,  foe  of  the  Eepublican  machine  from 
the  day  I  became  its  head.  Erhardt  proved  unac- 
ceptable, and  in  1891  was  removed.  I  recom- 
mended J.  Sloat  Fassett  for  his  successor.  Fas- 
sett  had  made  an  excellent  record  as  leader  of  the 
State  Senate.  Harrison,  alarmed  over  threats  to 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

defeat  him  for  a  renomination,  finally  appointed 
Fassett  Collector  of  the  Port.  But  it  became  nec- 
essary for  Fassett  to  resign  in  1891,  within  a  few 
months  of  his  appointment,  because  of  his  nomi- 
nation for  the  Governorship. 

FASSETT  'S  NOMINATION   A   MISTAKE 

Fond  as  I  was  personally  of  Fassett,  I  strongly 
advised  at  first  against  his  running  for  Governor 
and  sought  to  induce  Andrew  D.  White,  late  presi- 
dent of  Cornell  University  and  afterward  Am- 
bassador to  Germany,  to  head  the  ticket.  White 
was  willing  to  stand.  But  Fassett  had  for  years 
sought  the  honor,  and  the  young  Eepublicans  were 
almost  solidly  behind  him. 

Skeptical  of  the  result  of  the  Gubernatorial  con- 
test, but  relying  on  a  promise  that  an  organization 
man  would  be  named  for  Collector  in  Fassett 's 
place,  we  nominated  Fassett  for  Governor.  Fas- 
sett  made  an  aggressive  and  brilliant  campaign. 
He  was  defeated.  Fassett  charged  that  a  huge 
Democratic  campaign  fund,  estimated  at  from  a 
quarter  to  half  a  million  dollars,  proved  his  undo- 
ing. Anyway,  Boswell  F.  Flower  beat  him  by 
about  47,000  plurality. 

The  moment  the  returns  came  in,  the  old  Half- 
breeds  renewed  their  demands  for  my  head.  They 
went  to  Washington  and  insisted  to  the  President 
that  he  must  go  even  further  than  he  already  had 
toward  depriving  me  of  the  leadership  of  an  or- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ganization  which  had  stuck  to  me,  though  all  but 
naked  and  starving.  Harrison  responded  by  dol- 
ing out  patronage  to  my  bitterest  enemies  and 
lopping  off  the  heads  of  such  of  my  friends  in  the 
Federal  service  as  had  been  fortunate  enough  to 
get  places  under  it.  The  late  James  J.  Belden, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,  voiced  his  protest 
against  the  continuance  of  our  regime  when  he 
protested  to  the  President:  "What  we  want  in 
the  New  York  leadership  is  young  blood.  Platt 
is  too  old." 

To  this  Sloat  Fassett  retorted : 

"Well,  Belden  ought  to  know.  Judging  from 
the  plurality  for  Flower  in  Belden 's  home  district, 
he  got  some  of  my  young  blood,  all  right." 

Warner  Miller,  still  smarting  because  I  had 
prevented  his  entering  the  Harrison  Cabinet,  and 
also  because  I  supported  Frank  Hiscock  against 
him  for  the  Senate  in  1887,  was  a  frequent  com- 
plainant against  me  at  the  White  House.  So  were 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  afterward  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  in  the  McKinley  Cabinet,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Union  League  Club. 

Mischief-makers  went  to  the  White  House  and 
told  the  President  that  I  had  not  only  been  most 
malevolent  in  my  opposition  to  his  nomination, 
but  had  secretly  sought  to  secure  his  defeat  at  the 
polls.  They  insisted  that  the  only  salvation  of  the 
party  in  New  York,  and  the  only  chance  he  would 
have  of  insuring  himself  of  a  friendly  delegation 
in  1892,  was  to  supplant  me. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


CLARKSON    ANSWERS    THE    FALSEHOODS 

Let  General  Clarkson,  then  First  Assistant 
Postmaster-General  under  Harrison,  answer  these 
lies.  There  is  before  me  this  testimony  from 
him: 

"In  1888,  it  was  the  New  York  delegation  that, 
choosing  in  the  final  decision  between  Allison  and 
Harrison,  nominated  Harrison;  and  it  was  Platt 
that  took  the  New  York  delegation  to  this  choice. 
In  the  campaign  following,  it  was  Platt  who,  in 
support  of  Quay  and  his  National  Committee, 
saved  the  election  of  Mr.  Harrison  by  saving  to 
him  the  State  of  New  York,  and  by  causing  it  to 
vote  against  a  son  of  its  own,  already  in  the  Presi- 
dential chair,  and  backed  for  reelection  by  many 
of  the  largest  financial  and  business  interests  in 
the  metropolis.  It  was  his  genius  and  Quay's  that 
saved  to  Harrison  the  Presidency.  If  either  of 
them  had  failed  to  do  what  he  did,  Harrison  could 
not  and  would  not  have  been  elected. 

"It  remains  unsolved,  or  at  least  unproved, 
whether  General  Harrison  did  tender  to  Mr.  Platt 
the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury.  From  a  letter 
in  Mr.  Harrison's  handwriting  he  had  every  rea- 
son for  believing  that  the  pledge  had  been  made. 
The  officers  of  the  National  Committee,  who  saw 
the  letter,  believed  as  much  as  he  that  it  was  a 
pledge  and  a  sincere  one.  The  truth  may  have 
been  perjured  by  an  intermediary;  nothing  else 
•could  have  made  the  letter  else  than  a  pledge  of  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Cabinet  seat.  Yet  Mr.  Platt  accepted  with  grace 
this  disappointment  as  to  the  place  he  has  proba- 
bly coveted  more  than  any  other  position,  and 
which  he  had  the  peculiar  abilities  to  fill. 

ELAINE   STRONG;    HARRISON    WEAK 

"He  supported  Harrison 's  administration,  and 
it  was  no  reason  that  was  personal  that  led  him 
to  oppose  Harrison's  nomination  in  1892.  He 
knew,  as  did  all  the  better  posted  men  in  the 
party,  that  Elaine,  who  could  keep  in  line  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  low  tariff  Eepublicans, 
who  would  not  vote  for  Harrison,  or  for  any  can- 
didate doubtful  on  Eeciprocity,  and  would  bring 
to  the  polls  hundreds  of  thousands  of  other  Ee- 
publicans who  had  been  alienated  and  chilled  by 
Harrison's  low  temperature  of  action  toward  the 
party  workers,  offered  the  only  chance  for  Eepub- 
lican  success  in  that  year. 

"If  Ohio  had  voted  with  the  Elaine  men,  on 
the  Alabama  contest,  Elaine  could  and  would  have 
been  nominated,  or  McKinley  might  have  been. 
McKinley  was  a  candidate,  too,  active  but  recep- 
tive— despite  all  former  impressions  and  all  later 
statements.  And  Mr.  Hanna  was  his  leader." 

Eemember  that  the  gentleman  quoted  had  been 
vice-chairman  and  chairman  of  the  Eepublican 
National  Committee  and  served  as  First  Assistant 
Postmaster-General  under  the  Harrison  admin- 
istration. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Perhaps  it  was  Belden's  insistence  to  the  Presi- 
dent: "What  we  need  is  young  blood,"  that  in- 
spired me  to  issue  an  address  about  this  time,  urg- 
ing young  men  to  get  into  politics.  The  promul- 
gation of  this  address  was  followed  by  the  flock- 
ing of  thousands  of  brainy,  hustling,  devoted 
young  Eepublicans  into  the  organization. 
Through  them  I  was  enabled  to  confound  those 
who  were  crying  for  my  head. 

Extracts  from  that  address  are,  I  believe,  as 
pertinent  and  practicable  to-day  as  they  were  in 
the  days  of  Harrison.  Here  are  some  of  them : 

ADVICE  TO  YOUNG  MEN 

"Every  young  man  should  take  an  interest  in 
politics.  He  should  make  a  study  of  economic 
questions  and  familiarize  himself  with  the  prin- 
ciples that  underlie  the  two  great  political  parties. 
It  is  a  duty  he  owes  to  himself  and  to  his  country. 
Under  our  Eepublican  form  of  government,  the 
officeholders  are  merely  the  servants  of  the  peo- 
ple. But  if  the  people  neglect  their  duty,  what  can 
we  expect  from  their  servants  f  Does  it  not  follow 
that  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  suffering  people 
to  guard  their  interests  will  result  in  deteriorating 
the  service?  No  successful  business  man  would 
think  of  intrusting  his  business  entirely  to  his 
employees.  The  moment  he  adopted  such  a  policy, 
he  would  cease  to  be  a  success. 

* l  The  ordinary  principles  of  business  should  be 
220 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

applied  to  politics.  All  the  evils  growing  out  of 
our  political  system  can  be  traced  to  a  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  people  to  do  their  duty.  There 
would  have  been  no  Tweed  ring  but  for  the  crim- 
inal carelessness,  indifference  and  neglect  of  the 
intelligent  voters.  To  the  same  indifference  we 
are  indebted  for  the  present  domination  of  Tam- 
many in  this  city. 

"New  York  City  contains  a  large  mass  of  ma- 
chine voters — men  who  have  neither  the  inde- 
pendence nor  the  inclination  to  favor  a  clean, 
honest  government.  They  follow  the  Tammany 
organization  blindly,  whither  it  listeth,  and  never 
ask  any  questions.  Past  experience  has  shown, 
however,  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  conserva- 
tive people  do  not  interest  themselves  in  the  prac- 
tical business  of  politics  as  they  ought.  Perhaps 
the  very  men  who  complain  the  loudest  against 
the  domination  of  Tammany  and  corruption  in 
high  places  do  not  exercise  the  elective  franchise 
more  than  half  the  time,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  at- 
tend a  primary.  Take,  for  instance,  the  example 
of  the  Twenty-first  Assembly  District,  which  is  in 
some  respects  the  representative  Eepublican  dis- 
trict of  this  city.  Out  of  the  3,000  or  4,000  Kepub- 
lican  voters  who  are  registered  in  that  district, 
not  more  than  1,200  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  Eepublican  organ- 
ization. In  other  words,  the  work  of  selecting 
party  leaders  and  nominating  candidates  is  left 
to  a  very  small  minority  of  the  party.  I  have  no 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

patience  with  the  stay-at-homes,  who  rail  at  the 
selection  of  unfit  men,  but  do  nothing  to  remedy 
the  evils. 

"The  importance  of  a  young  man  commencing 
early  to  take  an  active  part  in  politics  is  obvious. 
Men  are  largely  creatures  of  habit.  Let  the  habit 
be  once  formed,  of  ignoring  their  political  duty, 
and  the  chances  are  that  it  will  stick  to  them 
through  life ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they  start 
right,  by  identifying  themselves  with  some  po- 
litical organization,  they  will  become  good  and 
useful  citizens. 

"My  advice  to  all  young  men  is  to  take  up  the 
duty  of  politics  as  early  as  possible  and  familiar- 
ize yourself  with  all  public  questions.  Do  not  stop 
there.  Make  up  your  minds  to  which  party  your 
conviction  leads  you,  and  then  do  all  you  can  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  that  organization.  I 
should  not  advise  any  man  to  join  with  the  Demo- 
cratic or  Eepublican  parties  simply  because  he 
has  been  reared  in  that  particular  faith.  Let  him 
decide  the  question  of  his  political  manhood  for 
himself.  Traditions  are  all  very  well,  but  every 
man  is  surer  of  himself  who  makes  his  own  in- 
dependent investigation  and  forms  his  own 
opinions. 

"Naturally,  as  a  Republican  from  conviction,  I 
believe  that  a  careful  study  of  the  political  con- 
ditions of  the  day  by  an  intelligent  man  will  lead 
him  directly  into  the  ranks  of  the  Eepublican 
party;  but  I  recognize  the  right  of  intelligent  men 

222 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

to  honestly  differ  on  political  as  well  as  other 
questions. 

"If  a  law  could  be  passed,  compelling  every 
one  to  give  a  part  of  his  time  to  the  consideration 
of  political  matters,  or  at  least  to  exercise  his 
privilege  of  franchise,  we  should  have  a  better  and 
more  efficient  government  of  our  local  affairs,  as 
well  as  in  the  State  or  nation. 

"The  young  men  are  the  main  reliance  of  the 
country.  Upon  their  shoulders  rests  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  maintenance  of  our  Republican 
form  of  government.  About  the  strongest  argu- 
ment that  can  be  advanced  in  a  candidate's  favor 
before  a  political  convention  is  that  he  is  popular 
with  the  young  men.  Just  why  this  is  so  is  not 
difficult  of  solution.  The  young  men  are  more 
active  and  enthusiastic  than  the  old  stagers.  The 
saying,  *  Young  men  for  action;  old  men  for  coun- 
sel,' is  true  in  politics;  but  no  party  can  hope  to 
succeed  in  the  future  without  the  support  of  the 
young  men. 

"The  young  men  (and  when  I  say  young,  I  do 
not  mean  necessarily  a  youth  just  emerging  from 
his  teens,  but  men  in  the  prime  of  life)  will  con- 
tinue to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  our  politics. 
The  tendency  will  be  to  increase  their  importance, 
rather  than  diminish  it.  This  element  will  proba- 
bly decide  the  next  Presidential  contest.  During 
the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  gratifying  in- 
dication that  the  young  men  of  the  country  are  be- 
ginning to  appreciate  their  political  responsibili- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ties  and  importance  more  keenly.  The  formation 
of  young  men's  clubs,  in  both  parties,  all  over  the 
country,  is  a  very  healthy  sign.  These  clubs 
should  be  increased  in  number  and  their  member- 
ship doubled.  Every  man  under  the  age  of  fifty 
should  become  personally  identified  with  a  po- 
litical organization.  The  study  of  politics  is  the 
most  neglected  branch  of  a  young  American's 
education.  I  hope  to  see  the  time  when  it  will  be 
the  exception  to  find  a  young  man  who  does  not 
take  an  active  interest  in  the  political  affairs  of 
the  country.  When  that  time  comes,  we  shall  have 
less  scandals  in  public  office,  and  a  better  and 
cleaner  administration  of  the  government  in  all 
its  branches,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom. 

"This  is  an  excellent  time  for  the  young  men 
of  the  country  to  organize  and  equip  themselves 
for  the  next  great  political  battle.  It  promises  to 
be  as  exciting  and  as  hotly  contested  as  any  in  the 
history  of  the  country.  The  party  that  can  com- 
mand the  support  of  the  live  men  will  surely  win. 
Every  politician  recognizes  that  fact. 

"Years  ago  it  used  to  be  the  policy  of  political 
leaders  to  keep  the  young  men  in  the  background. 
That  was  a  serious  mistake.  The  man  who  neg- 
lects his  political  obligations  is  not  a  good  citi- 
zen in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word." 


224 


CHAPTER  XIII 
1891-1899 

A  carnival  of  Tammany  knavery  in  New  York 
City  forces  me  to  direct  Legislative  inquiries 
— Three  investigations  produce  scandalous 
revelations — What  was  done  to  cure  mal- 
administration through  new  laws. 

IT  has  been  asserted  that  I  have  been  the  spon- 
sor for  more  Legislative  inquiry  committees  than 
any  one  man  in  the  State.  It  has  happened,  dur- 
ing my  leadership  of  the  party  and  while  I  exerted 
some  influence  at  Albany,  that  because  of  abuses 
in  city  and  county  governments,  not  only  in  New 
York,  but  in  other  municipalities,  appeals  were 
made  to  me  by  honest  citizens  to  aid  them  in  cor- 
recting maladministration,  first  by  ascertaining 
the  cause,  and  then  applying  the  remedies  in  the 
form  of  amendments  to  the  laws. 

I  very  gladly  advocated  the  Legislative  inquir- 
ies of  1891,  1894  and  1899.  All,  while  they  dis- 
closed unspeakable  misgovernment,  enabled  the 
Legislatures  to  intelligently  enact  laws  which,  in 
the  main,  have,  I  believe,  assured  to  the  munici- 
palities of  the  State  cleaner  and  better  adminis- 
trations than  at  any  time  within  their  history. 

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THOMAS    COLLIER    PLATT,    1892 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Throughout  the  years  of  1888  and  1889,  I  was 
constantly  importuned  by  representative  citizens 
of  the  State  to  help  them  secure  as  nearly  ideal 
conduct  of  their  municipal  affairs  as  possible.  It 
was  impressed  upon  me  that  in  the  absence  of  a 
general  law,  great  diversity  prevailed  between  the 
charters  of  the  various  cities,  which  provoked  in- 
cessant appeals  to  the  Legislature,  unwarrantably 
consumed  its  time,  loaded  up  the  statute  books 
until  they  became  confused,  and  made  city  govern- 
ments unstable  and  uncertain.  Again,  accusations 
were  made  that,  particularly  in  New  York  City, 
flagrant  violations  of  the  law  affecting  the  admin- 
istration of  the  excise,  police,  dock  and  other  de- 
partments were  being  daily  perpetrated.  Mayor 
Abram  S.  Hewitt,  a  Democrat,  in  his  official  mes- 
sage to  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  January  17,  1888, 
arraigned  the  lack  of  rigid  enforcement  of  the 
excise  law  in  this  language:  " After  repeated 
complaints  to  the  police,  I  discovered  that  the  jus- 
tification and  excuse  for  the  failure  to  abate  this 
scandal  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  pro- 
prietors, when  arrested,  were  never  or  rarely 
brought  to  trial. 

"More  than  five  thousand  cases  accumulated 
in  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  during  the  pre- 
vious two  years.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ability 
to  give  bail  was  a  practical  immunity  for  crime. 
I  would  urge  that  additional  legislation  be  secured 
for  the  establishment,  either  of  an  excise  court 
for  the  trial  of  these  cases,  or  for  conferring  of 

227 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

power  on  the  Special  Sessions  to  empanel  a  jury, 
where,  under  the  Constitution,  the  offender  avails 
himself  of  the  right  to  a  jury  trial.'* 

Mayor  Hewitt  also  complained  that  the  New 
York  City  water  front  had  been  permitted  to  grow 
up  without  any  system  of  regulation  or  control; 
that  there  was  a  fruitful  source  of  conflicting 
claims  as  to  title  between  the  city  and  individuals, 
and  as  to  jurisdiction  between  the  different  city 
departments ;  that  the  control  of  streets  had  prac- 
tically passed  into  the  hands  of  corporations,  and 
that  many  laws  governing  the  municipality  had 
been  reduced  to  a  state  of  confusion  and  their  in- 
terpretation made  difficult,  because  of  successive 
enactments,  while  the  local  ordinances  were  sel- 
dom understood  by  the  people,  and  often  irrec- 
oncilable. 

I  quote  Mayor  Hewitt  because  it  has  become  the 
fashion  among  some  critics  to  stigmatize  all  Leg- 
islative investigations  as  "political  smelling 
schemes.''  Inasmuch  as  the  Legislature  was  Ke- 
publican,  and  Hewitt  was  a  Democrat,  no  charge 
of  partisanship  by  us  was  warranted  so  far  as 
the  inquiry  into  New  York  municipal  affairs  was 
concerned. 


PASSETT  COMMITTEE  PROBES 

After  consultation  with  Chairman  Francis 
Hendricks,  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Cities,  and 
other  influential  leaders  of  the  upper  house  at  Al- 

228 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

bany,  I  concluded  that  the  popular  demand  for 
such  an  inquiry  as  was  sought  ought  to  be  granted. 
January  20,  1890,  the  Senate  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion, authorizing  the  Committee  on  Cities  to  un- 
dertake a  general  inquiry  concerning  the  govern- 
ment of  cities,  and  report  upon  the  question  of  the 
amendment  and  systematization  of  the  general 
body  of  laws  relative  to  them.  Francis  Hen- 
dricks,  James  W.  Birkett,'  Lispenard  Stewart,  Gil- 
bert A.  Deane  and  J.  Sloat  Fassett  were  named 
as  the  committtee.  Senator  Hendricks  was  occu- 
pied by  manifold  duties  at  Albany  and  at  home; 
therefore  Senator  Fassett  really  handled  the  bur- 
den of  the  inquiry,  and  the  committee  became 
known  as  the  Fassett  Committee. 


GKOSS    ABUSES    DIVULGED 

This  committee  divulged  many  gross  abuses  in 
the  governments  of  New  York  and  other  cities  and 
recommended  many  excellent  corrective  laws, 
which  were  afterward  enacted.  In  its  report,  the 
Fassett  Committee  declared  that  the  chief  diffi- 
culties which  underlay  the  government  of  cities 
were: 

First.  Over-legislation,  and  too  frequent  yield- 
ing by  the  Legislature  to  the  importunities  of 
cities  for  the  passage  of  special  or  local  bills. 
(Bills  were  recommended  and  passed,  but  some  of 
them  were  vetoed  by  Governor  Hill,  intended  to 
protect  cities  against  the  power  of  individuals 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

to  appeal  to  the  Legislature,  and  protect  the  law- 
making  body  from  entertaining  such  appeals.) 

Second.  The  absence  of  a  general  law  for  the 
government  of  cities,  whereby  larger  powers 
should  be  granted  to  local  authorities,  and  the 
Legislature  relieved. 

Third.  The  absence  of  complete  and  accurate 
information  relative  to  municipal  administration, 
and  the  necessity  for  the  enactment  of  a  law  re- 
quiring a  series  of  annual  reports  to  be  filed  by 
each  municipality,  in  order  that  the  Legislature 
and  people  generally  could  advise  themselves  fully 
with  regard  to  the  indebtedness,  taxation  and  ex- 
penditure. The  committee  recommended  and  had 
passed  another  bill  for  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mission to  draft  a  general  law  for  the  government 
of  cities. 

This,  I  believe,  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Hill. 

The  Fassett  Committee  found  the  system  of 
accounting  in  the  various  cities  unintelligible  and 
chaotic,  and  sought  to  remedy  the  evil  by  legisla- 
tion requiring  cities  to  file  annual  reports  with  the 
State  Comptroller.  In  New  York  City  the  com- 
mittee secured  evidence  of  the  greatest  inequality 
in  the  assessment  of  real  and  personal  property 
for  purposes  of  taxation.  The  excise  law,  as 
shown  by  the  evidence  submitted,  was  a  "dead 
letter  and  its  execution  a  humbug." 

The  Police  Department  conditions  were  practic- 
ally the  same  as  described  hereafter  in  the  con- 
clusions of  the  Lexow  and  Mazet  committees.  The 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Dock  Department  was,  as  to  efficiency,  hardly 
worth  the  trouble  of  establishing,  and  legislation 
was  recommended  to  reorganize  and  conserve  to 
the  people  the  great  water  front.  The  Department 
of  Charities  and  Corrections,  which  spent  nearly 
two  millions  a  year,  was  administered  in  direct 
violation  of  law,  and  legislation  was  enacted  sepa- 
rating the  two  and  providing  for  more  rigid  en- 
forcement of  the  statutes. 

The  Commissioners  of  Accounts  were  pilloried 
for  winking  at  frauds  they  were  sworn  to  probe. 
Nearly  $400,000  had  been  squandered  in  copying 
dead  city  records.  The  Street  Cleaning  Depart- 
ment, though  spending  over  $1,255,835  annually, 
did  everything  but  keep  the  streets  clean.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  the  payrolls  were  packed  with 
men  named  by  heads  of  departments,  who  made 
the  places  mere  political  prizes  and  avoided  re- 
sponsibility for  their  acts  by  sheltering  them  with 
the  protection  of  the  civil  service  laws. 

The  Fassett  Committee  inquiry  was  but  the 
forerunner  of  others  which  produced  even  more 
startling  disclosures  as  to  the  misgovernment  of 
the  metropolis. 

LEXOW'S  INVESTIGATION  OF  1894 

Heretofore  I  have  incidentally  mentioned  how 
in  1894  there  was  created  a  Legislative  committee, 
which  brought  to  light  such  scandals  in  the  police 
and  other  New  York  City  departments,  that  the 

231 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

people  arose  in  their  might  and  turned  out  of 
office  the  Tammany  administration  that  was  re- 
sponsible for  them.  Despite  the  evidence  taken 
by  the  Fassett  Committee  of  1890,  and  the  en- 
actment of  laws  intended  to  correct  abuses  then 
uncovered,  the  press,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime  and  other 
representative  organizations  produced  to  me  and 
to  Eepublican  Legislative  leaders  sworn  testimony 
that  police  corruption  and  extortion  continued; 
that  through  the  police  citizens  were  deprived  of 
the  right  to  cast  their  ballots  and  have  them  count- 
ed as  cast,  and  that  a  veritable  carnival  of  fraud 
prevailed  in  practically  every  other  city  depart- 
ment. 

I  became  convinced,  upon  complaints  submit- 
ted by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Society  for 
the  Prevention  of  Crime,  and  other  commercial 
and  social  bodies,  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
bring  another  Legislative  committee  to  New  York. 
After  consultation  with  the  Legislative  leaders, 
and  a  promise  of  cooperation  from  them,  a  reso- 
lution was  offered  in  the  Senate  and  adopted 
January  30, 1894,  declaring: 

CORBUPTION  AMONG  POLICE 

It  has  been  charged,  and  maintained,  that  the 
Police  Department  of  the  City  of  New  York  is 
corrupt;  that  grave  abuses  exist  in  said  depart- 
ment; that  in  said  city  the  laws  for  the  suppres- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sion  of  crime,  and  the  municipal  ordinances  and 
regulations  duly  enacted  for  the  peace,  security, 
order  and  the  police  of  said  city,  are  not  strictly 
enforced  by  said  department,  and  by  the  police 
force  acting  thereunder;  that  said  laws  and  ordi- 
nances, when  enforced,  are  enforced  by  said  de- 
partment and  said  police  force  with  partiality  and 
favoritism,  and  that  said  partiality  and  favorit- 
ism are  the  result  of  corrupt  bargains  between  of- 
fenders against  said  laws  or  ordinances,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  said  department  and  police  force  on 
the  other;  that  money  and  promise  of  service  to 
be  rendered  are  paid  to  public  officials  by  the 
keepers  or  proprietors  of  gamehouses,  disorderly 
houses  or  liquor  saloons,  or  others  who  have  of- 
fended, or  are  offending  against  said  laws,  or  or- 
dinances, in  exchange  for  promises  of  immunity 
from  punishment  or  police  interference ;  and  that 
said  department,  and  said  police  force,  by  means 
of  threats  and  otherwise,  extort  money,  or  other 
valuable  consideration  from  many  persons  in  said 
city,  as  the  price  of  such  immunity  from  police 
interference,  or  punishment  for  real  or  supposed 
violations  of  said  laws  and  ordinances. 

The  Senate  named  as  members  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Seven :  Senators  Clarence  Lexow,  Edmund 
O'Connor,  George  W.  Eobertson,  Cuthbert  W. 
Pond,  Daniel  Bradley  and  Jacob  A.  Cantor. 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


FLOWER    OFFERS    OBSTRUCTION 

Eight  at  the  beginning  of  the  proposed  investi- 
gation, Eoswell  P.  Flower,  a  Democratic  Gov- 
ernor, sought  to  block  it  by  vetoing  the  bill  to 
defray  counsel  fees  and  committee  expenses.  May 
8,  1894,  Governor  Flower  disapproved  the  bill, 
setting  aside  $25,000  to  liquidate  the  cost  of  the 
inquiry  on  the  ground  that  ' '  the  bill  has  every  ap- 
pearance of  being  a  misuse  of  public  money  and 
Legislative  power  for  the  manufacture  of  political 
capital  or  the  division  of  political  spoils." 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce,  however,  guaran- 
teed to  the  committee  counsel  fees,  and  John  W. 
Goff,  of  New  York,  and  William  A.  Sutherland,  of 
Eochester,  were  selected  as  attorneys.  The  result 
of  the  investigation  showed  conclusively,  in  the 
first  instance,  that  almost  every  conceivable  crime 
against  the  elective  franchise  was  either  commit- 
ted or  permitted  by  the  police,  invariably  in  the 
interest  of  the  dominant  Democratic  organization 
of  Tammany  Hall. 

The  Lexow  Committee  report  classified  them  as 
follows :  Arrest  and  brutal  treatment  of  Eepub- 
lican  voters,  watchers  and  workers;  open  viola- 
tion of  the  election  law;  canvassing  for  Tammany 
Hall  candidates;  invasion  of  election  booths; 
forcing  of  Tammany  Hall  pasters  upon  Eepubli- 
can  voters ;  general  intimidation  of  the  voters  by 
the  police  directly,  and  by  Tammany  Hall  elec- 
tion district  captains  in  the  presence  and  with  the 

234  ^ 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

concurrence  of  the  police;  colonization  of  voters; 
illegal  registration  and  repeating,  aided  and 
knowingly  permitted  by  the  police;  denial  of  Be- 
publican  voters  and  election  district  officers  of 
their  legal  rights  and  privileges ;  cooperation  and 
acquiescence  in  the  usurpation  by  Tammany  Hall 
election  district  captains  and  watchers  of  alleged 
rights  and  privileges  in  violation  of  law. 

WHOLESALE    DEBAUCHERY    AT    THE    POLLS 

It  was  shown  that  during  the  years  1891,  1892 
and  1893,  many  thousands  of  unlawful  ballots 
were  cast  and  counted  by  the  active  cooperation 
and  connivance  of  the  police. 

The  report  continues:  Sufficient  appears  upon 
the  record  to  show  beyond  peradventure  that  hon- 
est elections  had  no  existence,  in  fact,  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  that,  upon  the  contrary,  a  huge 
conspiracy  against  the  purity  of  the  elective  f  ran- 
ehise  was  connived  at  and  participated  in  by  the 
municipal  police,  whereby  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual were  trampled  ruthlessly  under  foot,  and 
crime  against  the  ballot  held  high  carnival. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  police  captains, 
whose  precincts  were  especially  considered  in  this 
connection,  were  appointed  by  the  president  of 
the  Board  of  Police;  and  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous leaders  of  Tammany  Hall,  at  the  instance 
of  the  organization,  as  an  organization,  when  in- 
formed that  watchers  had  been  sent  to  the  polls, 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

at  the  instance  of  local  reform  associations,  to 
aid  in  securing  an  honest  ballot  and  count,  called 
the  officers  of  his  command  together  and  in- 
structed them  that  if  "  those  silk  stockings  inter- 
fere, stand  them  on  their  heads." 

Partisan  bias  did  not  stop  with  the  captains. 
In  1892  the  president  of  the  Police  Board,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  Superintendent  of  Police,  gave  direc- 
tions to  the  assembled  captains,  which,  if  carried 
into  effect,  would  have  caused  riot  and  bloodshed 
at  the  polls,  and  would  have  precipitated  encoun- 
ters between  the  police  and  the  U.  S.  marshals. 
The  department  was  permeated  by  the  influence 
of  Tammany  Hall.  District  leaders  influenced  not 
only  the  appointment  but  the  assignment  of  offi- 
cers ;  for  contributions  were  levied  upon  the  mem- 
bers for  the  benefit  of  district  organizations.  A 
situation  had  been  reached  under  four  years  of 
a  partisan  police  board,  where  the  officer  had  been 
brought  to  understand  that  the  only  hope  for  pro- 
motion was  in  joining  and  contributing  to  Tam- 
many Hall  associations,  and  seeking  through  these 
channels  the  sure  road  to  promotion. 

CEOKER   COULD   AND   DID   STOP   IT 

We  find  Tammany  Hall  influences  predominat- 
ing to  such  a  degree  and  so  demoralizing  to  the 
force,  that  Commissioner  Martin,  president  of  the 
Police  Department,  finally  asked  the  intervention 
of  Eichard  Croker,  a  private  citizen,  unconnected 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

with  the  Police  Department,  but  leader  of  Tam- 
many Hall,  in  order  to  secure  through  the  in- 
fluence of  that  organization  a  cessation  of  this 
abuse.  The  same  private  citizen,  whose  authority 
was  so  potent  as  to  accomplish  all  this,  was  able 
by  a  word  of  command  at  once  to  shut  up  all  the 
poolrooms  then  in  full  operation,  and  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  up  to  that  time,  neither 
the  whole  force  of  police,  of  detectives,  superin- 
tendent, or  of  the  commissioners  themselves  could 
effectively  close.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  record 
discloses  the  fact  that  the  Police  Department, 
from  the  highest  down  to  the  lowest,  was  thor- 
oughly impregnated  with  the  political  influence  of 
Tammany  Hall,  and  that  the  suppression  and  re- 
pression of  crime  depended,  not  so  much  upon 
the  ability  of  the  police  to  enforce  law,  but  rather 
upon  the  will  of  that  organization  or  faction  to 
have  the  law  enforced. 

It  becomes  the  paramount  duty  of  the  Legisla- 
ture to  remove,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  possi- 
bility of  political  influences  securing  a  controlling 
power  over  the  police  force. 

The  testimony  indicated  the  amazing  condition 
that  in  most  of  the  precincts,  houses  of  ill-repute, 
gambling  houses,  policy  shops,  poolrooms  and  un- 
lawful resorts  of  a  similar  character  were  being 
openly  conducted  under  the  eyes  of  the  police, 
without  attempt  at  concealment,  so  publicly,  in 
fact,  that  the  names  of  the  persons,  and  the  street 
numbers  of  the  houses,  were  not  only  known 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

throughout  the  community,  but  were  published 
in  the  daily  prints,  and  yet  they  remained  open 
and  ostentatiously  flourished. 


LIVES  JEOPARDIZED,  BUSINESS  RUINED 

Strong  men  hesitated  when  required  to  give  evi- 
dence of  their  oppression,  and  whispered  their 
stories;  tricks,  subterfuges  and  schemes  of  all 
kinds  were  resorted  to,  to  withhold  the  fact  that 
they  had  knowledge  of  acts  of  corruption  or  op- 
pression by  the  police.  The  uniform  belief  was 
that  if  they  spoke  against  the  police,  or  if  the 
police  discovered  that  they  had  been  instrumental 
in  aiding  the  committee,  or  had  information,  their 
business  would  be  ruined,  and  their  lives  jeopar- 
dized. 

The  police  practiced  blackmail  with  substantial 
impunity,  and  with  a  reckless  disregard  of  de- 
cency. Proprietors  of  disorderly  houses  and  gam- 
bling dens  paid  for  their  illegal  privileges.  Out- 
casts of  society  paid  patrolmen  for  permission  to 
solicit  on  the  public  highways.  Green-goods  swin- 
dlers and  victims  added  their  story  of  police  black- 
mail and  protection.  Violators  of  the  excise  law 
paid  a  regular  stipend  for  protection  or  immunity 
from  interference.  Appointments  to  the  police 
force  were  purchased.  Captain  Creedon  confessed 
the  payment  of  $15,000  to  secure  a  promotion. 
Captain  Schmittberger  testified  that  he  had  been 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

a  go-between  in  securing  the  appointment  of  a 
captain,  for  a  consideration  of  $12,000. 

CORRECTIVE  LEGISLATION  ENACTED 

The  disclosures  were  of  such  an  appalling  char- 
acter that  popular  demand  was  made  for  imme- 
diate remedial  legislation.  The  Lexow  Committee 
succeeded  in  getting  through  the  Legislature  bills 
for  the  concentration  of  power  to  control  and  dis- 
cipline the  uniformed  force,  including  assignment 
and  transfer,  whereby  the  executive  functions  of 
the  department  were  lodged  in  the  Chief  of  Police ; 
creating  a  bi-partisan  Board  of  Police  Commis- 
sioners, with  exclusive  authority  over  the  admin- 
istrative and  judicial  functions  of  the  department ; 
causing  all  promotions  to  be  made  in  conformity 
with  the  rules  of  civil  service,  for  merit  and  su- 
perior capacity;  authorizing  the  Board  of  Police 
to  retire  officers  after  twenty  years  of  service, 
and  making  retirement  mandatory  after  thirty 
years  of  service;  conferring  upon  the  same  board 
power  of  dismissal  of  officers. 

These  recommendations  were  framed  into  laws, 
and  for  a  time  they  worked  quite  well,  under  the 
strong  moral  administration.  But  when  Tam- 
many returned  to  power  in  1898,  the  abuse  of  the 
laws  became  quite  as  flagrant  as  ever,  and  the 
Police  Department  quite  as  demoralized  and  cor- 
rupt. Public  charges  were  made  that  under  the 
Van  Wyck  administration,  funds  had  been  raised 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

by  levy  upon  members  of  the  police  force,  saloon 
and  other  resort  keepers,  to  corruptly  influence 
legislation ;  that  there  had  been  a  lax  enforcement 
of  laws  throughout  the  Greater  New  York,  of 
which  Van  Wyck  was  the  first  Mayor;  that  cor- 
rupt and  tyrannical  methods  had  been  resorted 
to  in  the  enforcement  of  the  same,  and  that  the 
public  funds  were  being  wasted  in  extravagant 
increases  of  official  salaries  and  in  other  ways. 

MAZET    COMMITTEE    INQUIRY 

Again  there  was  a  cry  for  a  thorough  Legisla- 
tive probing.  March  29,  1899,  there  was  adopted 
by  the  Assembly  a  resolution  creating  the  special 
Mazet  Committee.  It  consisted  of  Eobert  Mazet, 
chairman;  Edward  H.  Fallows,  James  B. 
McEwan,  Thomas  S.  Costello,  Harris  Wilson, 
Benjamin  Hoffman,  and  Anthony  J.  Boland. 

This  committee  went  to  work.  And  it  proved 
that  many  of  the  accusations  against  the  Van 
iWyck  administration  were  warranted.  To  quote 
from  the  report  submitted  by  Chairman  Mazet 
and  his  associates : 

THE   TAMMANY   DICTATOR 

The  one  clear  and  distinct  fact  brought  out  by 
this  investigation  is  that  we  have  in  this  great 
city  the  most  perfect  instance  of  centralized  party 
government  yet  known.  We  have  had  explained 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

by  the  highest  authority,  the  dictator  himself 
(Richard  Croker),  the  system  and  theory  of  gov- 
ernment, and  by  the  highest  officials  the  practice 
thereof.  We  see  that  government  no  longer  re- 
sponsible to  the  people,  but  to  that  dictator.  We 
see  the  central  power,  not  the  man  who  sits  in  the 
Mayor's  chair,  but  the  man  who  stands  behind  it. 

We  see  the  same  arbitrary  power  dictating  ap- 
pointments, directing  officials,  controlling  boards, 
lecturing  members  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
Municipal  Assembly.  We  see  incompetence  and 
arrogance  in  high  place.  We  see  an  enormous  and 
ever-increasing  crowd  of  officeholders,  with  ever- 
increasing  salaries.  We  see  the  powers  of  gov- 
ernment prostituted  to 'protect  criminals,  to  de- 
moralize the  police,  to  debauch  the  public  con- 
science, and  to  turn  governmental  functions  into 
channels  for  private  gain. 

The  proof  is  conclusive,  not  that  the  public 
treasury  has  been  directly  robbed,  but  that  great 
opportunities  have  been  given  by  manipulation  of 
public  offices  to  enable  favored  individuals  to  work 
for  their  own  personal  benefit. 


The  enormous  increase  in  the  budget  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  the  inefficiency  and  wasteful- 
ness in  the  public  service,  the  demoralization  of 
many  of  the  departments,  are  due  absolutely  to 
the  abdication  of  power  by  the  officers  of  the  peo- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

pie  to  an  organization,  the  ruler  of  which,  an  auto- 
crat, has  testified  that  he  was  "working  for  his 
pocket  all  the  time." 

The  real  ruler  of  the  city  is  a  private  indi- 
vidual, holding  no  office,  amenable  to  no  law, 
bound  by  no  oath,  and  yet  exercising  almost  ab- 
solute control  over  most  of  the  departments  of 
the  city  government  when  he  chooses  to  exercise 
it.  For  this  latter  evil — for  it  is  an  evil  fraught 
with  many  evil  consequences  to  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  city — there  is  no  Legislative  remedy. 
If  a  Mayor  so  chooses  to  abdicate  his  powers,  the 
responsibility  is  none  the  less  his,  but  the  only 
way  to  change  the  condition,  if  the  majority  of 
the  people  are  satisfied  with  such  a  system  and 
scheme  of  government,  is  at  the  polls. 

The  conduct  of  the  present  Police  Department 
of  the  City  of  New  York  is  unqualifiedly  bad.  Not 
only  are  the  laws  against  poolrooms,  gaming 
houses,  excise  violations,  dance  halls  and  wicked 
resorts  of  all  kinds  not  enforced,  or  enforced  in 
such  a  way  as  to  be  ridiculously  ineffective,  but 
the  general  discipline  is  lax,  grave  offenses  of 
personal  dereliction  in  the  way  of  drunkenness, 
absence  from  post,  inattention  to  duty,  etc.,  go 
unpunished,  or  are  visited  with  such  small  fines 
as  almost  to  be  an  encouragement  and  not  a  deter- 
ment for  wrong-doing.  Eobberies  from  the  per- 
son, robberies  from  houses  and  stores,  bunco 
games,  deceits,  frauds,  thefts,  have  increased  in 
an  alarming  degree,  and  the  detection  of  these 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

crimes,   and  the  recovery  of  the  property,  lias 
steadily  decreased  during  the  last  two  years. 

The  power  of  retiring  a  chief  without  cause 
(John  McCullagh,  Republican)  has  been  exercised 
by  this  administration.  To  do  this  the  Mayor 
removed  two  Police  Commissioners,  Thomas  L. 
Hamilton  and  William  S.  Phillips,  Eepublicans, 
and  appointed  one  in  their*  place.  The  three  Com- 
missioners promptly  retired  the  then  chief,  and 
the  Mayor  having  approved  their  action,  the  pres- 
ent chief  was  appointed  (William  S.  Devery, 
Democrat).  The  responsibility  is  as  much  fixed 
now  as  it  ever  can  be  by  law,  and  we  have  no  police 
legislation  to  recommend.  When  at  the  direct 
instance  of  the  gambling  and  pool-selling  frater- 
nity, officers  have  been  "pounded,"  captains 
transferred,  and  a  chief  retired,  it  is  hopeless  to 
expect  any  other  administration  of  such  laws 
than  that  which  the  overwhelming  evidence  proves 
to  exist. 

The  Mazet  Committee  recommended  the  cutting 
of  the  Mayor's  term  from  four  to  two  years,  a 
recommendation  which  was  approved  by  the  Leg- 
islature, and  a  rule  which  to-day  prevails.  It 
showed  that  scandals  in  the  Tax  Buildings  and 
other  departments  were  not  due  to  any  fault  in 
the  laws,  but  lay  solely  with  the  officers  of  the 
law. 

The  Mazet  Committee  concluded  its  report  by 
observing  that  the  testimony  demonstrated  bad 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

administration,  for  which  there  was  no  legislative 
remedy,  and  defects  in  the  charter  which  needed 
revision  by  a  competent  commission. 

CHARTER  REVISION 

In  conformity  with  the  Mazet  Committee  rec- 
ommendations, Governor  Eoosevelt  named  a  Char- 
ter Revision  Commission.  It  comprised  George 
L.  Eives,  Franklin  Bartlett,  George  W.  Davidson, 
Charles  C.  Beaman,  John  D.  Crimmins,  George 
Cromwell,  William  C.  Dewitt,  Frank  J.  Goodnow, 
Isaac  M.  Kapper,  Edgar  J.  Levey,  James  McKeen, 
Alex.  T.  Mason,  Charles  A.  Schieren,  Henry  W. 
Taft  and  James  L.  Wells.  It  devoted  a  deal  of 
time  to  investigating  alleged  weak  points  in  the 
charter  of  1897,  prepared  by  the  commission  of 
which  Benjamin  F.  Tracy  was  chairman.  So  far 
as  I  could  ascertain,  the  1900  commission  made 
comparatively  few  important  changes,  except  that 
the  Board  of  Public  Improvements  was  abolished, 
its  functions  conferred  upon  the  Borough  Presi- 
dents and  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment. This  transferred  to  the  Borough  Presidents 
the  powers  of  the  Departments  of  Highways, 
Sewers  and  Buildings. 

The  Borough  Presidents  became  members  of 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  and 
were  given  a  voice  and  vote  in  all  matters  affect- 
ing the  city  as  a  whole.  The  Legislature  prompt- 
ly, under  my  direction,  approved  all  the  Charter 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Revision  Commission  recommendations,  and  Gov- 
ernor Odell  put  his  signature  to  them  in  1901. 
That  charter  has  stood  until  the  present  day, 
though  on  two  occasions  Governor  Hughes  has 
sought  to  tinker  with  it. 

I  heartily  agree  with  the  findings  of  the  Mazet 
Committee  that  non-enforcement  of  the  laws — 
yes,  deliberate  violation  of  them — by  local  offi- 
cials produces  the  greater  share  of  abuses  from 
which  municipalities  suffer.  There  are  enough 
good  laws.  Let  them  be  executed  by  those  sworn 
to  execute  them,  and  the  chief  cause  for  com- 
plaint will  be  dissipated. 


245 


CHAPTER  XIV 

1892-1893 

Republicans  in  rebellion  against  Harrison — Rea- 
sons for  my  opposition  to  his  renomination — 
Why  Elaine  should  have  been  named — Party 
disaster  prophecy  fulfilled — Harrison  testifies 
to  my  loyalty — Cleveland's  victory. 

PRESIDENT  HARBISON'S  querulousness  with  the 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  other  State  organ- 
izations provoked  a  movement  against  his  renomi- 
nation that  became  formidable  in  1892.  Early  in 
that  year  a  secret  conference  of  anti-Harrison 
forces  was  held  in  New  York  City.  Matthew  S. 
Quay,  James  S.  Clarkson,  then  acting  chairman 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee;  myself 
and  other  opponents  of  the  President  from  many 
States,  resolved  that  the  one  man  who  could  de- 
feat Harrison  was  Elaine.  A  strong  organization 
was  formed.  It  made  an  onslaught  on  the  Presi- 
dent at  Minneapolis.  The  late  John  C.  New, 
Consul-General  to  London,  hurried  home,  mar- 
shaled the  administration  forces,  and  finally 
forced  Harrison's  renomination. 

Harrison's  selection  for  a  second  term  caused 
a  chattering  of  the  teeth  among  the  warm-blooded 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Bepublicans  of  the  East.  When  there  was  added 
to  it  the  choice  of  Whitelaw  Eeid,  a  persistent 
assailant  of  the  New  York  organization,  for  Har- 
rison's running  mate,  many  of  the  New  York  dele- 
gates, including  myself,  wrapped  ourselves  in 
overcoats  and  ear-muffs,  hurried  from  the  con- 
vention hall,  and  took  the  first  train  for  New 
York.  I  had  repeatedly  uttered  warnings  that 
Harrison 's  renomination  spelled  disaster.  My  pre- 
diction was  verified.  Grover  Cleveland,  who  had 
been  defeated  by  Harrison  in  1888,  beat  him  with- 
out trouble  four  years  later,  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  not  only  in  the  electoral  college,  but  in 
the  popular  vote. 

For  the  edification  of  those  who  formed  the 
habit  of  stigmatizing  me  as  a  traitor  to  Harrison 
as  the  regular  nominee  of  the  party,  let  me  submit 
a  personal  letter  from  him;  written  at  the  very 
time  I  was  being  accused  of  plotting  his  defeat 
at  the  polls: 

HARRISON   VINDICATES   ME 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington. 
Loon  Lake,  N.  Y.,  August  17,  1892. 
MY  DEAK  SIR: 

I  received  yesterday  evening  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Hiscock,  with  the  contents  of  which  I  understood 
you  were  acquainted.  After  considering  the  sub- 
ject, I  have  concluded  to  dispense  with  all  inter- 
mediaries and  to  address  you  directly,  with  abso- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

lute  frankness.  And  first,  I  have  not  sent  for  any 
one  to  consult  with  me  about  political  matters — 
except  the  chairman  of  the  State  Committee  of 
Indiana,  whom  I  desired  to  see  before  leaving 
Washington.  I  did  consider  the  subject  of  hav- 
ing Chairmen  Brookfield  and  Hackett  meet  me 
on  the  train  on  the  way  here,  and  asked  Senator 
Hiscock  what  he  thought  of  it — without,  however, 
intending  that  he  should  take  any  step  in  the 
matter.  Chairman  Carter,  with  whom  I  also  con- 
sulted, advised  that  I  should,  instead,  stop 
over  in  New  York  and  thus  give  an  opportunity 
to  other  friends  as  well  to  call  upon  me.  This 
course  I  should  have  taken,  if  the  news  from  Mrs. 
Harrison  and  the  delay  in  the  adjournment  of 
Congress  had  not  made  it  necessary  for  me  to 
come  on  here  without  delay.  I  passed  through 
Jersey  City  at  such  an  hour  that  the  project  I 
had  discussed  of  meeting  the  gentlemen  named, 
and  Mr.  Eeid,  on  my  train,  had  also  to  be 
abandoned. 

I  have  asked  no  one  to  come  here,  and  had  not 
contemplated  doing  so  for  several  reasons.  Mrs. 
Harrison  is  so  much  of  an  invalid  as  to  require  of 
my  time  to  assist  her  in  the  short  walks  and  drives 
she  takes  daily,  and  much  more  in  efforts  to  cheer 
her  up  and  lift  her  out  of  her  nervous  depression. 
Our  cottage  is  a  little  box  of  six  small  rooms, 
and  the  domestic  disposition  necessarily  such  that 
I  cannot  bring  any  one  to  the  cottage.  Further, 
I  had  set  apart  this  week  and  next  to  the  work 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

of  preparing  my  letter  of  acceptance,  which  ought 
to  be  out,  and  at  the  best  can  only  get  a  few  hours 
each  day  for  that  work.  My  plan  was,  when  this 
work  was  done,  and  Mrs.  Harrison  better,  which 
I  anxiously  hope  for,  to  go  somewhere — either  to 
New  York  City,  to  Mr.  Reid's  country  place,  to 
Mr.  Miller's  home  at  Herkimer,  or  to  Mr.  Bur- 
leigh's  place  on  Lake  George,  each  of  which  has 
been  suggested — and  to  meet  there  a  few  friends,, 
to  whom  I  might  submit  the  letter  for  suggestion 
and  criticism,  and  with  whom  I  might  consult  as 
to  the  campaign.  This  plan  I  hope  to  carry  out 
and  will  be  glad  if  you  will  make  one  of  that 
company. 

One  of  the  things  I  ought  to  say,  in  view  of  the 
matters  stated  in  Senator  Hiscock's  letter:  First, 
no  promise,  or  anything  that  could  be  construed 
into  a  promise,  of  place  or  reward  has  been  made 
by  me,  or  with  my  knowledge,  to  any  one  before 
or  since  the  Minneapolis  convention,  and  none 
such  will  be  made  now  or  hereafter.  Every  ap- 
pointment will  be  left  open  until  the  time  for 
making  it  arrives,  and  then  determined  in  the 
light  of  that  time  and  upon  such  proper  considera- 
tions as  may  then  present  themselves.  This  I  re- 
gard as  the  only  fair  course  to  others  and  the  only 
safe  and  proper  course  for  me.  In  this  view  I 
am  advised  you  fully  concur. 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


MY  PABTY   LABORS   UNSELFISH 

Second,  I  learn  not  only  from  Senator  Hiscock's 
letter,  but  from  other  sources,  that  you  have  taken 
the  impression  that  I  depreciated  your  standing  as 
a  gentleman  and  as  a  Republican  leader.  I  have 
wanted  an  opportunity,  and  take  this,  to  say  in 
the  utmost  sincerity  that  in  this  you  are  entirely 
mistaken.  Men  of  high  standing  in  New  York, 
and  among  them  some  who  have  sharply  and  con- 
stantly antagonized  you  in  politics,  and  might 
be  thought  to  be  hostile,  have  repeatedly,  in  con- 
versation with  me,  cheerfully  borne  testimony  to 
your  personal  integrity  and  fidelity,  and  to  your 
unselfish  party  labors.  I  have  never  intention- 
ally done  or  omitted  anything  out  of  any  personal 
disrespect,  and  any  such  impression  on  your  part 
is  a  mistake,  the  origin  of  which  I  will  not  attempt 
to  trace,  but  will  venture  to  suggest  that  the  fault 
may  not  have  been  wholly  on  one  side.  There  is 
no  reason  on  my  part  why  our  relations  may  not 
be  absolutely  friendly. 

Third,  You  and  other  Eepublicans  of  New  York 
vigorously  opposed  my  renomination.  This  you 
had  a  right  to  do,  and  it  should  involve  no  party 
penalties  or  disabilities — and  no  personal  ill-will. 
I  have  never  sought  (and  it  is  rather  uncommon 
in  politics,  I  think)  to  require  loyalty  of  those 
who  received  appointments  from  me.  Up  to  the 
very  meeting  of  the  Minneapolis  convention,  I 
was  making  nominations  upon  the  recommenda- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tions  of  Senators  and  members  of  Congress  whose 
opposition  to  me  was  not  only  pronounced,  but 
bitter,  and  those  who  opposed  me  at  Chicago  have, 
as  you  know,  had  generous  recognition.  Post- 
convention  loyalty  to  the  ticket  and  to  the  party 
should  be  rather  the  test  when  honors  are  to  be 
distributed.  You  will  not  expect  me  to  apologize 
for  getting  the  nomination,  nor  I  to  you  for  hav- 
ing tried  to  prevent  it. 

I  have  thought  I  ought  to  say  these  things  in 
order  to  remove  impressions  that  were  injurious 
to  me,  without  reference  at  all  to  the  effect.  I 
appreciate  fully  the  important  contribution  you 
can  make  to  the  campaign.  Your  devotion  to  Re- 
publican principles  made  these  stories  of  secret 
opposition  incredible.  If  any  impression  that  I 
cherished  a  disrespect  for  or  suspicion  of  you  ivas 
in  the  way  of  your  greater  activity,  I  hope  that 
has  now  been  removed.  When  we  meet,  these 
matters  can  have  fuller  discussion,  if  necessary. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  very  de- 
sirable, as  well  on  your  account  as  on  mine,  that 
our  meeting  should  be  anticipated  rather  than 
followed  by  any  steps  you  may  decide  to  take. 
I  have  not  hesitated,  therefore,  to  say  these  things 
frankly  and  directly  to  you,  rather  than  through 
others,  believing  that  the  spirit  at  least  in  which 
I  have  written  would  be  appreciated. 
Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)    BENJ.  HABBISON. 
Hon.  T.  C.  PLATT,  New  York  City. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


HARRISON,   THE   "  POUTER  PIGEON " 

Some  have  been  so  unkind  as  to  depict  Harri- 
son as  a  bantam  rooster,  strutting  about  and  chal- 
lenging all  comers,  big  and  little,  to  fight.  He 
impressed  me  more  as  a  pouter  pigeon,  though 
I  have  witnessed  more  than  one  exhibition  of  his 
pugnacity.  Outside  the  White  House  and  at  a 
dinner  he  could  be  a  courtly  gentleman.  Inside  the 
Executive  Mansion,  in  his  reception  of  those  who 
solicited  official  appointments,  for  themselves  or 
their  friends,  he  was  as  glacial  as  a  Siberian 
stripped  of  his  furs.  During  and  after  an  in- 
terview, if  one  could  secure  it,  one  felt  even  in 
torrid  weather  like  pulling  on  his  winter  flannels, 
goloshes,  overcoat,  mitts  and  earlaps.  With  few 
exceptions,  those  who  did  most  to  place  Harrison 
first  in  the  United  States  Senate  and  then  in 
the  Presidency,  found  him  a  marble  statue  when 
they  asked  for  recognition  of  their  services. 

He  appeared  to  assume  that  all  who  had  been 
with  him  would  stick,  no  matter  how  he  ignored 
or  mistreated  them. 

He  lost  their  sympathy  by  forgetting  his  obliga- 
tions to  them  and  conferring  favors  on  those  to 
whom  he  owed  nothing.  That  partially  explains 
why  Harrison  was  opposed  so  strenuously  for  a 
renomination,  and  why  so  many  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  ardent  Eepublicans  visited  punishment 
upon  him  by  voting  straight  against  him  in  1892. 


252 


CHAPTER  XV 
1893-1894 

Rival  party  reorganization  movements — Bliss- 
Milholland  factional  quarrels  in  New  York 
City — Expensive  result  of  Whitelaw  Reid's 
attempt  to  intimidate  me — Genuine  reorgani- 
zation and  Republicans  sweep  the  State  by 
one  hundred  thousand — My  friends  nominate 
and  elect  Strong  Mayor — He  deliberately  re- 
pudiates pre-nomination  and  election  pledges 
— Documentary  proof  of  this — Brookfield 
ousted. 

THE  Republican  party  was  in  1893  at  a  sad  dis- 
advantage in  the  State  and  City  of  New  York. 
The  State  government  was  controlled  by  the 
Democratic  party.  Tammany  Hall  was  supreme 
in  the  city.  David  B.  Hill,  the  accepted  Demo- 
cratic "boss,"  was  in  the  U.  S.  Senate.  Edward 
Murphy,  Jr.,  his  deputy,  was  also  there.  The 
overwhelming  pluralities  by  which  Flower 
whipped  Fassett  in  1891,  and  by  which  Cleveland 
defeated  Harrison  in  1892,  caused  demands  again 
from  the  Half-breeds  that  I  be  knocked  in  the 
head.  Despite  the  fact  that  I  had  forewarned  New 
York  Republicans  that  the  renomination  of  Har- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

rison  meant  utter  rout,  in  their  desperate  deter- 
mination to  get  rid  of  me  they  ignored  evidence 
of  chicanery  that  resulted  in  the  stealing  of  the 
Legislatures  of  1892  and  1893,  which  sent  Hill  and 
Murphy  to  the  U.  S.  Senate.  They  closed  their 
eyes  to  frauds,  not  only  in  New  York  City,  but  in 
Dutchess,  Columbia  and  Steuben  counties  in  the 
interior.  They  seemed  blind  to  the  theft  of  certifi- 
cates of  election,  colonization,  repeating  and  bal- 
lot stuffing,  in  which  Hill,  Assistant  Attorney- 
General  Isaac  N.  Maynard,  and  other  Democratic 
leaders,  were  so  implicated  that  independent  social 
and  political  associations  held  indignation  meet- 
ings and  cried  out  for  redress.  These  assemblies 
also  denounced  the  Democratic  gerrymander,  that 
made  it  well-nigh  impossible,  except  a  revolution 
should  happen,  for  the  Eepublicans  to  obtain 
a  majority  in  the  lawmaking  body. 

In  the  hope  of  at  last  starting  me  on  the  politi- 
cal toboggan,  my  adversaries  howled  for  a  re- 
organization of  the  party,  particularly  in  the 
county  of  New  York.  Colonel  George  Bliss  and 
others  who  did  not  like  me  formed  a  Committee 
of  Thirty.  They  announced  their  intention  of 
"cleaning  the  Augean  stables,  and  throwing  Platt 
and  his  crew  out. ' '  I  fully  realized  the  imperative 
necessity  of  a  reorganization.  But  I  was  not  al- 
lured by  the  spectacle  of  political  bushwhackers 
assuming  to  take  charge  of  the  enterprise.  I 
frankly  declared  at  that  time  that  as  the  old  ma- 
chine could  not  be  depended  upon  to  do  good  and 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

efficient  work,  and  get  out  the  Eepublican  vote, 
a  new  organization  was  required.  The  county 
committee  recognized  this  by  gracefully  going  off 
to  the  funeral  prepared  for  it  by  the  thirty  under- 
takers (thirty  district  leaders).  Conditions  be- 
came the  more  embarrassing,  when,  early  in  1893, 
two  bitterly  hostile  factions  sprang  up  to  under- 
take the  task  of  reorganization.  One,  as  I  have 
said,  was  the  Committee  of  Thirty,  headed  by 
Colonel  Bliss.  The  other  was  led  by  John  F.  Mil- 
holland,  with  Whitelaw  Eeid  as  its  real  under- 
writer. 

BLISS   VS.   REID MILHOLLAND 

Bliss  claimed  the  authority  of  the  old  County 
Committee.  Milholland  asserted  that  public  sen- 
timent was  behind  him  and  his  men.  I  questioned 
whether  an  authority  derived  from  a  body  that 
had  practically  confessed  its  own  unfitness  to  live 
was  of  any  particular  value.  The  County  Com- 
mittee had  said:  "We  are  somewhat  bad,  and 
totally  inefficient,  and  we  empower  Colonel  Bliss 
and  his  friends  to  get  up  something  better  in  our 
stead.''  Now  it  did  not  seem  to  me  that  Bepub- 
licans  were  compelled  to  respect  Colonel  Bliss's 
credentials.  If  we  were  to  get  rid  of  the  old  ma- 
chine because  it  was  partially  bad,  and  entirely 
inefficient,  we  were  certainly  justified  in  looking 
with  some  suspicion  upon  the  persons  to  whom 
it  issued  its  commission. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  concluded  to  look  at  the  Bliss  and  Milholland 
movements  merely  on  their  respective  merits.  I 
found  that  among  those  who  supported  Bliss  were 
a  number  of  aged  Bepublicans,  of  character  and 
wealth,  who  spent  a  great  deal  of  their  time  in 
criticizing  us  whose  interest  in  the  party  was  such 
that  we  gave  our  days  and  nights,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  to  build  up  the  party  and  make  it 
effective  on  election  day.  They  undertook  to 
abolish  leadership.  They  might  as  well  have  tried 
to  abolish  daylight.  I  urged  that  it  was  not  so 
much  a  new  scheme  of  organization  that  the  party 
needed,  as  new  blood,  earnest,  resolute,  active, 
ambitious  young  men.  I  therefore  did  not  think 
Colonel  Bliss's  plan  calculated  to  infuse  new  life 
in  the  party.  Nor  did  I  regard  the  would-be  lead- 
ers about  him,  among  them  Cornelius  N.  Bliss  and 
General  Samuel  Thomas,  likely  to  attract  gallant, 
ambitious  young  men.  I  maintained  that  we  would 
be  unable  to  obtain  the  secret  of  how  to  get  votes 
from  gentlemen  who  gave  so  little  time  in  active 
ivork  for  the  party,  and  suggested  that  as  the  Mil- 
holland men  were  young,  active,  enthusiastic  work- 
ers in  cosmopolitan  districts  we  had  been  unable 
to  reach,  they,  instead  of  being  opposed  by  Colo- 
nel Bliss  and  his  friends,  ought  to  receive  their 
active  support  and  financial  encouragement. 

THAT  1 1  HARMONY  ' '  DINNER 

Though  both  Bliss  and  Milholland  repeatedly 
claimed  me  as  sponsor  for  their  respective  organi- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

zations,  I  never  got  behind  either.  Possibly  I 
would  have  been  tempted  to  prefer  the  Milholland 
movement,  but  for  an  incident  that  happened  in 
the  winter  of  1893.  State  Chairman  Hackett  and 
myself  were  invited  to  what  we  presumed  was  to 
be  a  "harmony"  dinner,  at  the  home  of  Whitelaw 
Eeid.  We  soon  discovered  that  everybody  there 
was  expected  to  sign  a  cast-iron  pledge  to  push 
the  Milholland  organization.  When  I  protested 
that  my  hands  were  off,  and  that  the  State  organi- 
zation would  recognize  neither  the  Bliss  nor  the 
Milholland  faction,  until  one  or  the  other  had  dem- 
onstrated that  it  represented  a  majority  of  the 
Eepublican  voters  of  New  York  County,  Mr.  Eeid 
became  unwarrantably  excited.  He  brandished  his 
fist  and  exclaimed :  "If  you  refuse  to  indorse  the 
Milholland  movement  I  shall  be  compelled  to  at- 
tack you  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Tribune:' 

"Attack  me  if  you  will  in  a  thousand  news- 
papers. Never  yet  have  I  been  bulldozed  into 
espousing  any  proposition,  political  or  otherwise. 
Come  on,  Hackett.  Let's  get  out  of  here.  It  is 
no  place  for  us, "  was  my  answer. 

Hackett  and  I  called  for  our  coats  and  hats,  and 
bidding  Eeid  a  frigid  farewell,  departed. 

Eeid  put  his  threats  into  execution.  The 
Tribune  opened  fire  on  me  the  next  day.  It  vili- 
fied me  as  few  newspapers  ever  vilified  me.  But 
the  abuse  made  me  the  more  determined  that  I 
would  not  yield.  Neither  faction  was  recognized 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

by  the  State  organization.  Ultimately  my  friends 
obtained  complete  mastery  of  the  New  York 
County  machine,  and  brought  it  up  to  a  state  of 
splendid  efficiency.  I  may  add  that  the  dinner 
incident,  accentuated  by  the  attacks  of  Mr.  Eeid's 
newspaper,  delayed  the  appointment  of  that  gen- 
tleman as  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  St.  James 
by  a  number  of  years.  It  had  been  for  a  long 
time  his  most  cherished  ambition  to  pay  court  to 
King  Edward.  It  was  not  until  I  finally  ac- 
quiesced in  a  personal  request  made  by  President 
Eoosevelt,  that  Eeid  achieved  the  post  he  sought. 

WHY  KEID  DID  NOT  GO  TO  ENGLAND 

(Note  by  the  Editor.) 

Senator  Platt,  during  the  preparation  of  these 
memoirs,  searched  in  vain  for  a  letter  he  wrote 
to  President  McKinley  in  August,  1898,  warning 
him  that  should  he  appoint  Whitelaw  Eeid  as 
Ambassador  to  Great  Britain,  he  would  be  com- 
pelled to  "part  company"  with  him.  An  exami- 
nation of  the  Senator's  archives  since  his  death 
discovered  the  only  copy  of  the  communication 
extant,  so  far  as  known.  Inasmuch  as  the 
Senator's  avowed  intention  was  to  reproduce  it 
in  the  story  of  his  life,  the  compiler  here  presents 
the  protest,  which  resulted  in  President  McKin- 
ley 'B  declination  to  appoint  Eeid,  and  which  kept 
him  officially  out  of  the  Court  of  St.  James  for  a 
number  of  years: 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

New  York,  August  14,  1898. 
To  the  President, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
MY  DEAB  MB.  PEESIDENT: 

I  have  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  since  our  in- 
terview on  Friday  morning  thinking  over  the  sug- 
gestion you  made  of  Mr.  Beid's  appointment  to 
be  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  I 
know,  of  course,  that,  anticipating  my  opposition, 
you  would  not  have  proposed  this  nomination  had 
you  not  believed  it  to  be  politically  expedient.  I 
think  I  appreciate  your  point  of  view.  It  is  one 
which  I  have  assumed  many  times  in  my  political 
experience,  and  occasionally  with  good  results. 
But  the  wisdom  of  attempting  to  conciliate  an 
enemy  by  giving  him  an  office,  depends  entirely  on 
his  character  as  a  man.  If  the  office  is  a  token  of 
restored  friendship,  and  not  simply  a  considera- 
tion, it  can  be  wisely  given.  But  when  the  man  is 
both  selfish  and  unscrupulous ;  when  he  has  a  uni- 
form record  of  broken  promises,  promises  only 
half  performed,  promises  kept  only  while  the 
present  favor  lasted,  it  is  my  experience  that  his 
attempted  conciliation  works  vastly  more  harm 
than  good.  In  the  case  of  Beid,  I  could  give  you 
a  list  of  understandings  ignored,  agreements  vio- 
lated and  promises  broken  which  would  completely 
establish  the  fact  that  any  assurance  of  his  is  to  be 
understood  and  interpreted  only  in  the  light  of 
what  he  considers  to  be  his  own  immediate 
interest. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  inclosed  to  you  yesterday,  a  paragraph  from 
the  Evening  Post  which  perfectly  illustrated 
Reid's  character.  He  is  a  fawning  and  unctuous 
friend  while  he  is  a  friend.  He  is  a  friend  just 
so  long  as  his  friendship  is  being  paid  for — "  ap- 
preciated," as  he  would  no  doubt  call  it.  Then 
straightway  and  inevitably,  he  begins  his  trick  of 
cutting  from  under.  Party  interests,  the  public 
welfare — no  such  consideration  in  the  slightest 
degree  affects  his  course.  I  have  known  Eeid  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  have  never  known  the 
time  when  he  could  be  induced  to  look  beyond  the 
point  at  which  his  personal  advantage  was  to  be 
served. 

It  is  almost  literally  true,  Mr.  President,  to  say 
that  the  Republican  failures  in  New  York  during 
the  last  twenty  years  are  to  be  laid  at  his  door. 
The  Tribune  has  always  had  a  large  circula- 
tion in  New  York,  and  until  within  the  last  five 
years  it  has  exercised  very  great  influence  upon 
public  opinion.  The  utterly  selfish  and  unpatri- 
otic motives  that  have  controlled  its  policy  have 
at  last  been  discovered  to  Eepublicans  generally, 
and  its  influence  now  is  at  the  very  lowest  ebb  to 
which  it  has  ever  fallen.  If  you  take  the  action 
contemplated  your  act  will  operate  to  revive  its 
destructive  power.  It  is  and  has  been  the  head 
and  front  of  opposition  to  the  Republican  organi- 
zation. It  has  been  the  constant  cause  of  Repub- 
lican disintegration.  No  organized  movement 
against  the  party  could  at  any  time  have  been 

260 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

successful  except  for  its  dishonest  tirades  against 
party  leaders  throughout  the  State.  It  has  fur- 
nished to  the  Democratic  party,  every  argument 
that  has  been  efficiently  used  to  the  injury  of 
Republican  candidates  and  Republican  policies. 
We  have  no  substantial  party  majority  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  When  we  win,  our  victory 
is  primarily  the  result  of  close,  election-district 
organization.  Everything  that  tends  to  impair 
the  strength  of  the  organization,  to  create  preju- 
dice against  its  leaders  in  the  various  counties, 
to  create  distrust  of  their  motives,  to  misconstrue 
their  acts,  is  bound  in  its  tendency  to  take  away 
from  us  that  very  small  percentage  of  Republican 
votes  on  which  success  depends.  The  prejudicial 
and  disintegrating  course  of  the  Tribune;  its 
half-hearted  support,  when  it  supports  at  all ;  its 
false  and  ugly  criticisms  during  every  session  of 
the  Legislature;  its  vicious  abuse  of  individuals 
prominent  in  the  party ;  its  denunciation  of  meas- 
ures judged  to  be  necessary  for  the  party  welfare ; 
its  magnifying  of  party  mistakes;  its  diabolical 
blackguardism  of  the  organization  as  an  organiza- 
zation,  have  finally  rendered  the  name  of  White- 
law  Reid  so  odious  to  Republicans  generally,  that 
his  advancement  now  would  be  regarded  as  a  per- 
sonal insult  to  every  loyal  member  of  the  party. 
His  course  in  respect  to  Governor  Black  is  an 
interesting  and  thoroughly  significant  illustration 
of  his  character  and  conduct.  In  the  first  year  of 
the  Governor's  administration,  while  he  was 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

thought  to  be  entirely  dominated  by  organization 
influences,  Eeid  abused  him  like  a  pickpocket.  He 
couldn't  stand  up  or  he  couldn't  sit  down  without 
calling  forth  the  wrath  of  the  Tribune.  Then, 
when  he  did  some  things  which  the  organization 
opposed,  and  refrained  from  doing  some  other 
things  which  the  organization  desired,  the 
Tribune  hugged  him  to  its  hysterical  bosom;  and 
now,  when  it  fears  that  the  Governor  is  not  "out 
with"  the  organization,  and  fears  that  his  renomi- 
nation  may  be  contemplated,  it  becomes  distant 
.and  critical  of  its  late  idol  and  sniffs  its  doubtful 
nose.  This  is  the  characteristic  Eeid  policy  when 
he  is  waiting  to  be  "conciliated."  It  is  intended 
for  no  other  purpose  than  to  inform  us  that  the 
course  of  the  Tribune  in  the  pending  cam- 
paign depends  on  whether  or  not  Eeid  is  to  get 
an  office. 

Eeid  and  his  paper  have  at  last  brought  them- 
selves down  to  that  deserved  low  limit  of  public 
regard  where  they  can  do  the  least  harm.  It 
would  be  a  party  crime,  Mr.  President,  for  you 
to  lift  them  up.  Perhaps  you  might  hold  their 
malice  in  check  as  long  as  you  kept  Eeid  in  office ; 
but  that  would  amount  to  nothing  even  in  its  im- 
mediate effects.  Everybody  who  is  interested  in 
politics  would  understand  the  meaning  of  it.  It 
would  excite  the  sneers  of  Democrats,  and  to  Ee- 
publicans  it  would  be  a  bitter  humiliation.  Then, 
after  you  had  rehabilitated  him,  after  you  had 
enabled  him  to  claim  for  his  paper  the  authority 

262 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  a  regular  party  organ,  all  that  new  strength 
would  be  turned  against  the  party,  as  has  been  the 
case  so  many  times  before.  Treachery  and  in- 
gratitude would  be  rewarded  only  that  they  might 
assert  themselves  again  with  a  greater  power  for 
harm. 

I  did  not  speak  lightly,  Mr.  President,  when  I 
told  you  that  I  should  be  compelled  to  oppose  this 
nomination  in  the  Senate.  I  said  that  with  ex- 
treme reluctance,  for  I  came  to  Washington  with 
the  intention  to  support  you  earnestly  and  stead- 
fastly, even  when  that  course  involved  the  sacrifice 
of  my  own  judgment  and  interest.  And  you  have 
proposed,  I  think,  about  the  only  thing  that  could 
cause  me  to  part  company.  Since  my  visit  to 
Washington  on  Friday  I  have  talked  this  matter 
over  with  a  number  of  our  strongest  men.  I  as- 
sumed an  impartial  attitude,  and  put  it  to  them 
from  your  point  of  view,  and  if  I  had  received  sub- 
stantial encouragement  I  was  prepared  to  waive 
my  own  objections.  But  in  every  case,  the  outcry 
against  Reid  was  spontaneous  and  intense.  Every 
one  says  the  same  thing — that  you  could  deal  no 
blow  to  your  party  in  New  York  more  hurtful 
than  by  making  this  appointment.  I  speak  con- 
servatively in  saying  that  the  universal  feeling 
among  Eepublicans  of  influence  is,  that  Eeid  and 
the  Tribune  are  by  their  own  acts  now  thor- 
oughly discredited;  that  their  capacity  for  harm 
is  now  comparatively  small ;  that  this  appointment 
would  confer  upon  them  a  new  lease  of  influence 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

which,  confirmed  by  a  comparatively  respectable 
course  during  a  period  of  months,  would  bt> 
promptly  turned  against  the  party  just  as  soon  as 
he  required  to  be  "conciliated"  again. 

You  have  made  many  nominations  from  New 
York,  Mr.  President,  which  were  disagreeable  to 
the  organization,  and,  in  my  opinion,  unfortunate 
in  their  party  consequences.  But  I  have  stood  by 
you  and  have  had  a  certain  pleasure  in  subordi- 
nating my  judgment  to  yours,  and  in  feeling  that 
I  was  affording  gratification  to  you  by  a  consider? 
ate  and  helpful  course.  I  had  not  expected  that 
you  would  think  it  necessary  to  impose  upon  the 
New  York  organization,  which  has  your  interests 
at  heart,  no  less  than  those  of  the  party,  which, 
indeed,  does  not  discriminate  between  them,  this 
particular  and  extreme  injury.  I  am  sure  you 
would  not  do  it  if  you  could  realize  the  feeling  it 
will  arouse,  and  I  still  hope  that  your  confidence 
in  my  advice  will  cause  you  to  abandon  a  plan 
which  every  instinct  of  party  loyalty  and  every 
desire  for  the  party  welfare  compel  me  to  oppose. 
Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     T.  C.  PLATT. 

GENUINE    REORGANIZATION    BEGUN 

While  the  Committee  of  Thirty  and  the  Eeid- 
Milholland  factions  were  clutching  at  each  other's 
throats,  a  practical  plan  for  eradicating  one  of 
the  causes  of  party  demoralization  was  being 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

evolved.  It  was  to  put  a  stop  to  crooked  registra- 
tion and  voting,  especially  on  the  east  side  of 
New  York  County.  The  Democratic  Legislative 
gerrymander  had  so  cut  up  the  old  Third  (now 
the  Eighth)  Assembly  District,  for  instance,  that 
instead  of  its  continuing  a  Eepublican  stronghold, 
it  cast  its  vote  just  as  Timothy  D.  Sullivan,  the 
Tammany  leader,  dictated.  In  the  Second  As- 
sembly District,  where  Patrick  Diwer  was  Tam- 
many leader,  prizes  were  offered  and  presented  to 
the  election  district  captain  who  procured  the 
greatest  number  of  votes.  In  some  election  dis- 
tricts, only  one  or  two  Eepublican  votes  were 
counted.  Tammany  dominated  the  election  boards 
by  three  to  one,  and  Eepublican  inspectors  were 
helpless.  Whole  Assembly  districts  were  declared 
by  the  Tammany  boards  to  have  gone  Democratic 
by  from  eight  to  ten  thousand,  a  meager  few  hun- 
dred votes  being  accorded  to  Eepublicans.  Con- 
servative estimates  placed  the  total  fraudulent 
vote  in  New  York  County  alone  in  the  campaigns 
of  1891  and  1892,  at  from  thirty  to  fifty  thousand. 
In  the  summer  of  1893,  Charles  H.  Murray,  then 
Eepublican  leader  of  the  Third  Assembly  District, 
but  now  Judge  of  the  State  Board  of  Claims, 
called  upon  Chairman  Hackett,  of  the  Eepublican 
State  Committee,  and  begged  the  privilege  of 
taking  measures  to  stop  the  frauds.  He  asked 
the  cooperation  of  the  State  organization.  Hack- 
ett, who  had  tried  every  expedient  he  could  think 


265 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of,  wearily  replied:  "What  is  the  use,  Charlie? 
Wait  until  we  regain  the  Legislature.  Then  we 
shall  be  able  to  enact  laws  to  cure  the  evils. " 

CBUSADB    AGAINST    ELECTION    CKOOKS 

Murray  would  not  quit.  He  came  to  me.  I  told 
him  to  go  ahead,  and  that  I  would  stand  by  him. 
I  also  gave  Murray  advice  as  to  what  methods 
he  should  pursue.  He  proved  relentlessly  vigi- 
lant in  investigating  crooked  work  in  registration 
and  at  the  polls.  He  laid  the  evidence  before 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
and  James  Phillips,  Jr.,  of  the  New  York  Press. 
They,  in  the  interest  of  an  honest  ballot  and  fair 
count,  placed  scores  of  reporters  at  work.  The 
result  was  that  October  22,  the  Herald  and  Press 
exposed  with  several  pages,  copiously  illustrated, 
the  gigantic  system  of  debauchery,  which  had  for 
years  been  resorted  to  by  Tammany  Hall  to 
carry  elections.  These  attacks  were  continued 
daily  until  the  close  of  the  campaign.  And  they 
helped  much  toward  reducing  the  volume  of  the 
crooked  votes  cast  and  counted.  The  articles  were 
extensively  copied  by  Eepublican  newspapers  in 
the  rural  districts.  They  aroused  the  Eepublicans 
there  to  a  feeling  of  apprehension  that  their  votes 
were  to  be  overcome,  and  the  next  election  stolen 
as  others  had  been.  So  they  went  to  work  to  make 
the  up-State  returns  the  largest  possible. 


266 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


THE    STATE    KEDEEMED 

Meantime,  David  B.  Hill  committed  the  blunder 
of  nominating  for  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
Isaac  N.  Maynard,  who  had  been  active  in  pro- 
curing the  theft  of  the  Legislatures  of  1892  and 
1893.  We  nominated  Edward  T.  Bartlett,  of  New 
York  City.  We  made  Maynard  and  his  offenses 
the  campaign  issues.  We  elected  Bartlett  by  over 
one  hundred  thousand  plurality.  Our  candidates 
for  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller,  State  Treas- 
urer, Attorney-General  and  State  Engineer  and 
Surveyor  were  also  winners,  and  we  regained  con- 
trol of  the  Legislature, 

"Divine  Providence  did  it,"  I  said  at  the  time, 
and  I  repeat  it  now. 

The  result  of  the  crusade  against  Tammany 
Hall  corruption,  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Murray,  and 
the  police  alliance  with  it,  led  to  the  appointment 
of  the  famous  Lexow  Legislative  investigating 
committee.  The  first  volume  of  the  Lexow  Com- 
mittee's report  is  almost  exclusively  taken  up  with 
the  evidence  that  Mr.  Murray  adduced  as  to  the 
criminality  of  Tammany  Hall,  election  methods 
and  the  police  participation  and  connivance  there- 
in. This  I  have  discussed  elsewhere  in  more 
detail. 

The  Lexow  exposures  had  caused  Thomas  F. 
Gilroy,  the  Tammany  Mayor,  to  become  much 
alarmed.  He  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  try  and 
offset  popular  resentment  by  making  the  police 

267 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

board  bi-partisan.  It  then  consisted  of  three  Tam- 
many Hall  men  and  one  Bepublican,  General 
Michael  Kerwin.  Early  in  1894  the  term  of  Com- 
missioner Charles  F.  McLean,  now  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  expired.  Mayor  Gilroy  asked  me 
to  recommend  a  Bepublican  to  succeed  him.  I 
sent  him  the  names  of  Cornelius  Van  Cott  and 
Charles  H.  Murray.  Gilroy  appointed  Murray. 
Thus,  for  the  first  time,  the  New  York  Police 
Board  was  made  bi-partisan,  or  "  non-partisan, " 
as  the  reformers  of  the  day  chose  to  phrase  it. 

HOW    STRONG    WAS    NOMINATED 

The  Lexow  Legislative  Committee's  disclosures 
of  Tammany  administration  corruption  brought 
about  a  popular  revolt  among  the  decent  citizens 
of  the  metropolis  in  1894  that  had  not  been 
equaled  since  the  days  of  Tweed.  So  appalling 
were  the  revelations  of  debauchery  in  high  places 
that  men,  regardless  of  party,  united  in  a  demand 
for  a  complete  overturn  of  the  city  government. 
Early  in  the  year,  committees  representing  in- 
dependent organizations  banded  together  for  good 
and  pure  administration  of  municipal  affairs, 
called  upon  me,  and  asked  if  I  would  lend  my  in- 
fluence toward  the  formation  of  a  fusion  move- 
ment, which  would  support  a  non-partisan  ticket 
pledged  to  give  the  people  an  honest  conduct  of 
the  city  administration.  I  assured  them  all  that  I 
would  be  most  happy  to  cooperate,  and  that  I  be- 

268 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

lieved  I  could  bespeak  the  support  of  the  Repub- 
lican organization.  The  independent  organiza- 
tions continued  to  multiply,  the  more  the  popular 
resentment  grew  against  Tammany *s  misdoings, 
divulged  by  the  Lexow  Committee. 

There  were  the  State  Democracy,  which  had 
been  formed  by  the  former  Mayor  William  K. 
Grace;  the  O'Brien  Democracy,  with  former  Judge 
Alfred  Steckler  and  his  brother  Charles  at  its 
head ;  the  Independent  Democracy,  whose  spokes- 
man, I  believe,  was  John  P.  Townsend;  and  nu- 
merous Good  Government  Clubs,  all  apparently 
inspired  with  the  same  object,  and  that  was  to  rid 
the  city  of  those  who  were  plundering  it. 

September  6th  there  was  an  immense  mass  meet- 
ing at  Cooper  Union,  at  which  the  anti-Tammany 
men  concluded  to  organize  a  Committee  of 
Seventy,  supposedly  comprised  of  representatives 
of  all  elements  opposed  to  the  regime  then  in  con- 
trol of  the  municipal  government.  A  Committee 
of  Seventy  had  been  so  successful  in  rooting  out 
Tweed  frauds  in  the  early  seventies,  that  it  was 
thought  wise  to  create  another.  To  the  late  Jo- 
seph Larocque,  an  eminent  lawyer,  who  had  served 
on  the  original  Committee  of  Seventy,  was  com- 
mitted the  task  of  making  up  the  new  one.  La- 
rocque was  a  Democrat.  But  the  Eepublican  or- 
ganization offered  no  protest  against  his  selec- 
tion. Mr.  Larocque  consulted  neither  myself  nor 
any  officer  of  the  Eepublican  organization  as  to 
who  should  represent  it  on  the  Committee  of 

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Seventy.  He  went  ahead  and  named  whom  he 
pleased.  And  we  acquiesced.  We  were  quite  as 
anxious  as  any  of  the  independents  to  throw  Tam- 
many out  of  power,  so  we  did  not  complain  about 
being  practically  ignored  in  the  choice  of  those 
who  were  to  name  the  ticket. 

Mr.  Larocque  selected  a  number  of  high-class 
public-spirited  citizens.  Among  them  were:  J. 
Pierpont  Morgan,  C.  C.  Beaman,  George  L.  Eives, 
E.  M.  Gallaway,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  General 
Anson  G.  McCook,  Peter  B.  Olney,  John  Claflin, 
General  Horace  Porter,  Lewis  L.  Delafield,  W. 
Harris  Eoome,  Percival  Knauth,  Charles  Taber, 
William  J.  Scheffelin,  George  Haven  Putnam,  Al- 
bert Stickney,  George  McCulloch  Miller,  William 
E.  Dodge,  William  B.  Hornblower,  J.  Augustus 
Johnson,  Fulton  McMahon,  Henry  A.  Oakley, 
Everett  P.  Wheeler,  W.  E.  Stewart,  William  Trav- 
ers  Jerome,  Woodbury  Landon,  Hugh  N.  Camp, 
William  L.  Strong,  Charles  Hauselt,  John  Crosby 
Brown,  Simon  Sterne,  General  C.  H.  T.  Collis, 
E.  W.  Bloomingdale,  Albert  H.  Ely,  John  P. 
Faure,  J.  F.  Frank,  A.  S.  Frissel,  T.  A.  Fulton, 
E.  B.  Grinnell,  W.  A.  Hoe,  Dr.  A.  Jacobi,  Isaac  H. 
Klein,  Marshall  C.  Lefferts,  Max  L.  Lissauer, 
Cornelius  W.  Luyster,  D.  C.  Overbaugh,  E.  D. 
Page,  James  B.  Eeynolds,  Henry  Eice,  Gustav 
H.  Schwab,  Charles  Stewart  Smith,  Julius  Stern- 
berger,  Henry  C.  Swords,  Frederick  Taylor,  L.  J. 
Callahan,  Arthur  Van  Briesen,  James  J.  Speyer 
and  James  A.  Blanchard. 

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ONLY  TWO  OF  THE  SEVENTY  OURS 

But  two  out  of  the  seventy  could  have  been  said 
to  be  representatives  of  the  Eepublican  organiza- 
tion, which  polled  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  votes  in  those  days — more  by  ten 
to  one  than  any  other  body  of  men,  except  Tam- 
many Hall.  Blanchard,  who  afterward  became 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  through  my  influ- 
ence, and  Swords,  originally  from  Iowa,  I  think, 
but  made  acquainted  with  New  York  through  hav- 
ing been  sergeant-at-arms  of  the  Eepublican  Na- 
tional Committee,  were  about  the  only  spokesmen 
we  had  on  the  committee.  There  were  numerous 
conferences.  The  names  of  a  large  number  of 
candidates  for  Mayor  were  canvassed.  One  of 
the  first  considered  was  that  of  John  W.  Goff, 
Democrat,  who  had  proved  a  splendid  inquisitor, 
while  counsel  for  the  Lexow  Committee.  Later 
C.  C.  Shayne  and  Colonel  William  L.  Strong,  both 
Eepublicans,  were  presented.  The  Democrats, 
who  at  first  dominated  the  committee,  insisted 
from  the  outset  that  a  man  of  their  party  should 
be  nominated,  chiefly  upon  the  ground  that  New 
York  was  a  Democratic  city.  The  Eepublicans 
argued  that  as  the  great  proportion  of  votes  nec- 
essary to  elect  must  come  from  their  party,  a  Ee- 
publican must  head  the  ticket.  This  contention 
finally  prevailed,  and  Colonel  Strong  was  chosen 
for  Mayor  by  the  Committee  of  Seventy.  Just 
how  this  was  accomplished  and  by  whom,  few 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

knew  at  the  time,  or  if  they  did,  would  not  reveal. 
I  shall  tell  the  unvarnished  truth  about  it. 

Charles  H.  Murray  and  the  late  Judge  Jacob  M. 
Patterson  were  the  two  men  most  responsible  for 
the  nomination  of  Colonel  Strong.  James  Phil- 
lips, Jr.,  then  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  New 
York  Press,  was,  however,  the  one  who  originally 
suggested  the  colonel's  name  to  me.  Early  in 
October,  1894,  Mr.  Phillips  called  upon  me  at  my 
office,  No.  49  Broadway,  and  urged  that  the  Be- 
publican  organization  ought  to  insist  that  Strong 
be  the  candidate  for  Mayor.  He  argued  that,  first 
of  all,  he  was  a  stanch  Eepublican.  Then,  he  was 
a  man  who  commanded  confidence,  as  few  did,  of 
the  business  community.  I  was  inclined  to  agree 
with  him. 

STRONG   PROMISES   EVERYTHING 

On  October  4th,  I  called  up  Police  Commissioner 
Murray.  He  was  then  one  of  my  most  valued 
lieutenants  in  the  New  York  County  organization. 
I  asked  him  to  join  Mr.  Phillips,  see  Colonel 
Strong,  and  report  the  result  of  the  interview  to 
me.  Mr.  Phillips  visited  Mr.  Murray.  Mr.  Phil- 
lips stated  to  Mr.  Murray  that  Colonel  Strong  was 
a  candidate  for  Mayor;  that  he  had  been  to  see 
me  about  the  nomination,  because  Colonel  Strong 
believed  it  politically  unwise  to  call  upon  me  per- 
sonally; that  I  had  referred  him  to  Mr.  Murray 
and  requested  that  the  two  should  call  upon  Colo- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

nel  Strong  at  the  Central  National  Bank,  of  which 
he  was  then  president.  They  found  Colonel 
Strong  awaiting  them.  The  candidacy  of  the 
colonel  was  then  discussed.  A  definite  and  posi- 
tive agreement  was  reached  as  to  the  colonel's 
conduct  and  attitude  toward  the  Eepublican  or- 
ganization in  case  he  should  be  nominated  and 
elected. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  interview,  Mr.  Phillips 
and  Mr.  Murray  came  to  my  office  and  reported 
what  had  happened.  It  was  suggested  that  Judge 
Jacob  M.  Patterson's  advice  be  sought.  He  joined 
us.  He  was  told  what  had  passed  between  Phil- 
lips and  Murray.  That  there  might  be  a  third 
person,  as  a  witness,  it  was  agreed  that  he  and 
Phillips  and  Murray  should  go  again  to  Colonel 
Strong  and  discuss  his  candidacy.  They  did  so. 
Colonel  Strong  was  absent.  But  the  three  saw 
him  in  the  afternoon.  The  result  of  the  interviews 
with  Colonel  Strong  was  reduced  to  a  typewritten 
statement,  signed  by  Messrs.  Murray,  Patterson 
and  Phillips,  which  until  now  has  never  been 
printed.  It  was  written  by  Mr.  Murray  and  has 
reposed  among  his  archives.  Here  is  the  docu- 
ment: 

BAKGAIN    WITH    STEONG 

On  Thursday,  October  4,  1894,  Mr.  James  Phil- 
lips, Jr.,  of  the  Press,  called  upon  me  at  Police 
Headquarters  and  wanted  me  to  go  with  him  in 
his  cab  to  attend  an  important  conference.  He 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

explained  to  me  that  Mr.  Strong  was  a  candidate 
for  Mayor,  and  wanted  to  see  me  in  order  to  ex- 
plain his  position  and  attitude  and  his  intentions 
regarding  the  Eepublican  party.  I  asked  Mr. 
Phillips  if  I  could  talk  freely  to  Mr.  Strong  as 
man  to  man.  He  replied  that  I  could  talk  as 
freely  to  Mr.  Strong  as  I  could  to  him. 

On  reaching  Mr.  Strong's  office,  I  found  him 
waiting  for  us.  After  passing  the  hearty  con- 
gratulations of  the  day,  I  remarked  to  Mr.  Strong 
that  when  Mr.  Einstein  ran  for  Mayor  in  1888,  I 
had  labored  diligently  with  him  to  obtain  his  con- 
sent to  accept  the  Eepublican  nomination  then. 
He  replied  that  at  that  time  he  could  not  run,  but 
that  now  he  had  been  urged  by  so  many  of  his 
friends,  both  Eepublican  and  Democrats,  if  the 
nomination  was  tendered  to  him,  and  there  was  a 
substantial  unanimity  by  all  the  anti-Tammany 
associations  for  him  to  run,  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  run ;  that  he  thought  he  could  be  elected ; 
that  this  was  an  opportunity  by  which,  if  em- 
braced, he  thought,  Tammany  Hall  could  be  over- 
thrown; that  if  he  was  elected  Mayor  he  would 
give  the  city  an  honest  and  business-like  adminis- 
tration, and  endeavor  to  so  build  up  the  credit  of 
the  party  for  an  honest  and  business-like  adminis- 
tration of  the  city  affairs  that,  after  the  two  years 
of  his  incumbency  as  Mayor,  the  Eepublican  party 
would  obtain  such  credit  from  his  administration 
that  his  successor  would  be  elected. 

I  replied  that  the  supremacy  of  Tammany  Hall 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  this  city  was  due  to  their  immense  patronage 
in  the  municipality ;  that  I  understood  there  were 
some  nineteen  thousand  place-holders  in  the  city 
of  all  grades.  But,  saying  there  were  ten  thou- 
sand active  political  places,  a  Eepublican  Mayor, 
with  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  could  so  use 
this  patronage  in  the  interest  of  the  Eepublican 
party,  that  he  could  build  up  the  Eepublican  or- 
ganization to  the  present  strength  of  Tammany 
Hall  in  the  city;  so  that  the  Eepublican  party  in 
the  future  could  cope  successfully  with  a  united 
Democratic  party  and  make  the  city  and  State 
Eepublican  indefinitely. 

DETAILS  OF  THE   COMPACT 

Colonel  Strong  replied  that  he  wanted  to  give 
an  honest  and  business-like  administration  as 
Mayor,  and  that  as  he  expected  to  be  elected  by 
the  votes  of  many  Democrats,  he  felt  that  he  would 
be  obliged  to  recognize  them  in  some  instances  in 
the  distribution  of  patronage.  I  replied :  '  '  Colo- 
nel Strong,  I  commend  your  attitude,  and  if  I  was 
elected  Mayor  of  this  city  I  should  endeavor,  as 
conscientiously  as  a  man  could,  to  give  the  city  a 
thoroughly  honest  and  business-like  and  Eepubli- 
can administration.  I  should  make  certain  boards 
in  the  city  non-partisan.  For  instance,  I  should  di- 
vide the  Police  Board,  the  Excise  Commission,  and 
possibly  the  Dock  Department,  equally  among  Ee- 
publicans  and  Democrats.  For  such  boards,  where 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

public  criticism  was  mainly  directed,  I  would  make 
each  party  responsible  for  the  administration  of 
them,  so  that  the  Eepublican  party  could  not  be 
charged  with  partisan  manipulation  of  them  like 
Tammany  Hall,  and  be  put  in  the  jeopardous  posi- 
tion that  Tammany  Hall  was  now  in;  but  that 
other  than  this  I  should  give  a  Eepublican  admin- 
istration, in  the  office  as  Mayor,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  party." 

He  replied  that  I  had  expressed  his  sentiments 
and  views  exactly ;  that  he  coincided  fully  in  what 
I  had  said ;  and  that  he  was  so  good  a  Eepublican 
that  he  should  take  "damned  good  care"  that  any 
Democrat  he  might  appoint  would  come  pretty 
near  to  being  a  Eepublican;  that  he  should  take 
care  that  any  Democrats  that  might  be  appointed 
would  be  pretty  good  anti-Tammany  Democrats. 

STRONG  SAYS  HE  WAS  NEVER  AGAINST   ME 

I  said  then  to  Mr.  Strong  that  I  wanted  to  talk 
to  him  frankly  and  confidentially  about  his  atti- 
tude to  the  Eepublican  party,  and  toward  the  un- 
fortunate factions  which  were  in  the  party. 
He  said  to  me  he  never  had  been  a  factionist; 

that  he  regretted  very  much  the  conduct  of 

in  stirring  up  this  factional  strife,  and  that  he 

had  said  more  bitter  things  to 's  face  than  he 

would  ever  say  behind  his  back.  I  said  to  Mr. 
Strong  that  I  regretted  these  factions,  but  as  long 
as  they  were  these  factions,  and  that  as  he  had 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sought  this  interview  with  me  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  majority  faction  in  the  Kepublican 
party,  I  wanted  to  understand  his  attitude  toward 
me.  He  replied  that  if  he  was  elected  Mayor,  he 
would  endeavor  to  harmonize  the  party;  that  he 
was  a  friend  of  ours,  and  that  he  wanted  we  should 
be  friends  of  his ;  that  he  had  never  been  against 
Mr.  Platt,  and  that  if  he  was  elected  Mayor  no 
man  would  be  more  welcome  to  his  office  than 
would  be  Mr.  Platt. 

I  said:  "Then,  Mr.  Strong,  I  understand  this, 
because  I  want  it  distinctly  understood  between 
us,  that  if  you  are  elected  Mayor,  you  will  advise 
and  consult  us  in  all  things,  and  that  you  will 

not  heed  suggestions  and  advice  from  and 

his  friends  any  more  than  you  will  heed  sugges- 
tions and  advice  from  me  and  my  friends ;  that  the 

suggestions  and  advice  of  Mr. and  his  friends 

will  not  take  any  preference  or  receive  any  greater 
consideration  than  advice  and  suggestions  made 
by  myself  and  friends,  and  that  in  all  matters  you 
will  receive  advice  and  suggestions  and  consult 
with  us  respecting  your  administration  as  Mayor, 
so  long  as  we  make  no  advice  or  suggestions  con- 
trary to  your  intention  of  giving  an  honest,  busi- 
ness-like and  a  Republican  administration  as 
Mayor,  and  make  none  that  a  conscientious  man 
could  not  carry  out." 


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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


THE  PLEDGE 

He  replied:  "The  suggestions  made  by  you 
and  your  friends  will  receive  as  much  or  greater 
consideration  than  those  made  by  anybody  else. 
I  shall  be  happy  to  consult  with  you  at  any  and  all 
times.  I  want  to  make  a  harmonious  party,  here 
in  the  city,  and  shall  do  nothing  which  in  your 
judgment  would  not  be  in  the  interest  of  harmony, 
and  for  the  best  interests  of  the  party." 

I  said:  "Mr.  Strong,  there  remains  now  but 
one  other  subject  for  us  to  agree  upon.  Suppose 

Mr. or  anybody  else  should  suggest  to  you 

for  appointment  a  highly  objectionable  name,  what 
would  you  do  in  this  case  f ' ' 

He  replied:  "I  would  endeavor  to  harmonize 
it,  and  if  harmony  could  not  be  obtained,  I  should 
insist  upon  the  name. ' ' 

Then  I  said:  "Colonel  Strong,  I  understand 
that  you  will  heed  our  protest  against  such  a  man, 
and  would  not  make  any  appointment  highly  ob- 
jectionable to  us?" 

He  said:    "I  will  heed  your  protest." 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Phillips,  who  had  over- 
heard this  conversation,  withdrew,  and  Mr. 
Strong  turned  to  me  and  said :  ' i  Now,  Murray,  you 
and  I  understand  each  other  perfectly,  and  you 
need  have  no  apprehensions  but  what  I  will  do  the 
right  thing  if  I  am  elected  Mayor." 

I  said:  "Mr.  Strong,  I  am  glad  to  have  these 
few  words  in  confidence  with  you,  because  I 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

wanted  the  understanding  fully  and  frankly  as 
I  have  had  it  with  you." 

He  said:  "It  is  all  right,  Murray.  We  under- 
stand each  other  perfectly." 

Mr.  Phillips  and  I  then  withdrew,  and  drove  to 
Senator  Platt's  office.  I  telephoned  to  Judge  Pat- 
terson to  come  immediately  down  to  Senator 
Platt's  office.  In  about  twenty  minutes  Judge 
Patterson  arrived  at  Senator  Platt's  office,  and 
I  detailed  to  Senator  Platt  and  Judge  Patterson 
the  interview,  in  substance  as  it  is  written  now. 

Then  Judge  Patterson,  Mr.  Phillips  and  myself 
left  Platt 's  office  and  drove  to  Mr.  Strong's  office, 
and  found  Mr.  Strong  absent,  attending,  we  were 
informed,  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  Life  Insur- 
ance Company.  An  appointment  was  made  by 
Mr.  Phillips  for  Judge  Patterson  and  myself  to 
meet  Mr.  Strong  at  his  office  at  half-past  two  in 
the  afternoon.  Judge  Patterson  and  myself,  a  few 
minutes  after  half-past  two,  called  at  Mr.  Strong's 
office.  We  waited  for  him  about  fifteen  minutes. 
Then  Mr.  Strong  returned,  and  the  following  in- 
terview took  place  between  Mr.  Strong,  Judge  Pat- 
terson and  myself. 

PATTEKSON'S  TESTIMONY 

What  follows  is  the  testimony  of  Judge  Pat- 
terson : 

When  Mr.  Strong  came,  Mr.  Murray  was  by 
the  desk  in  the  southwest  corner  of  his  room.  Mrt 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Strong  greeted  Mr.  Murray.  Judge  Patterson, 
who  was  standing  a  few  feet  away,  stepped  over 
and  greeted  Mr.  Strong.  Judge  Patterson  said: 
"Colonel  Strong,  Commissioner  Murray  has  in- 
formed me  of  the  interview  of  this  morning." 
(Mr.  Phillips  was  to  be  present  at  this  time,  but 
was  unavoidably  absent.) 

"I  came  to  see  Colonel  Strong,"  continued 
Judge  Patterson,  "in  relation  to  the  nomination 
for  Mayor,  understanding  that  you  would  like 
to  receive  the  nomination  for  Mayor." 

Colonel  Strong  said  it  had  been  suggested  to 
him  by  the  Committee  of  Seventy  and  many  per- 
sonal friends,  that  he  would  be  the  proper  man 
for  them  to  nominate,  and  that  a  number  of  them 
had  strongly  urged  him  to  accept,  but  that  he 
had  not  seen  any  one  about  it  since  Tuesday 
morning. 

I  then  told  him  that  influences  were  at  work  to 
have  the  Committee  of  Seventy  propose  the  name 

of  Hon.  before  the  Eepublican  convention. 

He  then  said:    "Why  wouldn't  he, ,  make  a 

good  candidate  1 "  I  said  he  would,  but  that  there 
were  strong  objections  to  Mr.  being  nomi- 
nated. "And  we  prefer  you,  Colonel  Strong,  and 
if  you  will  give  us  an  opportunity,  by  presenting 
your  name  from  the  Committee  of  Seventy,  we 
will  choose  you  as  our  candidate.  But  if  the  Com- 
mittee of  Seventy  presented  one  name — that  is, 

the  name  of ,  that  would  be  manifestly  unfair 

and  absolutely  wrong. ' ' 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Colonel  Strong  said  he  agreed  entirely  with 
me,  that  it  was  unfair  and  wrong  for  them  to 
present  hut  one  name,  and  that  he  should  submit 
several  names  from  which  we  could  select.  Then 
I  said:  " Can't  you  do  anything  to  stop  that? 

Can't  you  get  your  name  submitted  with f " 

Colonel  Strong  said:  "I'll  he  damned  if  I'll  ask 
them  to  do  anything  for  me  personally,  hut  I'll 
see  that  more  than  one  name  will  be  submitted. 
For  them  to  submit  but  one  name  would  be  abso- 
lutely wrong." 

He  (Colonel  Strong)  looked  up  and  said:  "It 
is  three  o'clock  now.  The  committee  is  now  in 
session.  I'll  not  go  down  personally,  but  I'll  send 
word  to  Mr.  John  Claflin." 

He  then  called  in  a  lady  stenographer  and  dic- 
tated a  letter.  While  he  was  dictating  the  letter, 
he  turned  to  me  and  said:  "I  am  not  going  to 
mention  my  own  name  to  Mr.  Claflin." 

Then  Mr.  Murray  spoke  up  and  said:  "We 
understand  your  modesty  in  not  personally  urging 
your  name,  but  you  can  trust  your  candidacy  in 
the  hands  of  Judge  Patterson  and  myself.  We 
will  make  you  our  candidate.  You  will  be  our 
candidate  and  we  will  put  you  through." 

After  he  (Colonel  Strong)  had  finished  dictating 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Claflin,  and  while  it  was  being 
typewritten,  we  engaged  further  in  conversation 
with  Colonel  Strong,  and  Mr.  Murray  said  that 
he  had  a  highly  satisfactory  conversation  with 
Colonel  Strong  in  the  morning. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  then  remarked:  "Colonel  Strong,  you  are  a 
gentleman,  and  an  honorable  man,  and  would  ac- 
cept no  favors  at  the  hands  of  any  man  without 
realizing  the  obligations  you  are  under.  We  will 
trust  you  as  a  man  of  honor  to  treat  us  fairly 
and  honorably  after  you  are  elected. " 

"I'LL,  NOT  FOBGET  MY  OBLIGATIONS " 

He  (Colonel  Strong)  said:  "That  is  correct. 
You  can  trust  me.  I'll  not  forget  my  obliga- 
tions. " 

We  then  started  to  leave.  By  that  time  the  let- 
ter was  brought  back  to  the  room ;  Colonel  Strong 
said :  "I'll  be  damned  if  I'll  ask  them  for  myself, 
but  it  will  be  altogether  wrong  for  them  to  present 
one  name." 

And  he  immediately  sent  the  letter  to  Mr. 
Claflin. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Murray  and  myself  withdrew, 
promising  him  (Colonel  Strong)  that  if  his  name 
was  presented  to  us  by  the  Committee  of  Seventy, 
we  would  see  that  the  Republican  conference  com- 
mittee accepted  it  and  recommended  it  to  the 
county  convention.  He  could  be  assured  of  our 
nomination.  After  thanking  us,  he  withdrew. 
(Signed)  CHAELES  H.  MUBEAY. 

J.  M.  PATTEBSON. 
New  York,  October  10,  1894. 


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I  have  this  day  read  the  inclosed  memo  care- 
fully, and  as  far  as  paragraph  1,  from  pages  1 
to  5,  inclusive,  I  can  affirm  the  accuracy  of  Mr. 
Murray's  remembrance  of  the  interview  with 
Colonel  Strong.  I  also  recall  clearly  the  assertion 
of  Colonel  Strong  that -he  would  endeavor  to  co- 
operate heartily  with  a  Eepublican  Governor,  if 
one  was  elected,  during  his  term  of  office.  This 
was  made  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  by  Commissioner 
Murray. 

J.  P.,  JR.  (JAMES  PHILLIPS,  JR.) 

MY  PERSONAL   EXPERIENCE    WITH   STRONG 

Concerning  my  own  personal  experience  with 
Mayor  Strong,  I  here  produce  some  memoranda 
I  jotted  down  soon  after  the  Mayor  elevated  Will- 
iam Brookfield  to  the  Commissionership  of  Pub- 
lic Works: — 

On  the  8th  day  of  October  last,  I  was  visited 
at  my  office  by  Mr.  J.  Phillips,  Jr.,  the  man- 
ager and  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Daily 
Press f  who  had  previously  advised  me  of  his  very 
close  and  intimate  relations  with  Hon.  William  L. 
Strong.  He  stated  to  me  in  that  interview  that 
he  had  just  left  Mr.  Strong,  and  that  he  found 
that  gentleman  was  exceedingly  anxious  for  the 
Republican  nomination  for  Mayor;  that  up  to 
this  time  he  had  been  indifferent,  but  now  was 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

desirous  of  obtaining  it  and  wanted  my  help.  I 
stated  that  my  help  could  only  come  through  the 
leaders  of  the  organization,  and  whatever  was 
agreeable  to  them  would  be  satisfactory  to  me; 
and  suggested  that  Mr.  Phillips  arrange  an  in- 
terview with  Judge  Patterson  and  Commissioner 
Murray  and  Mr.  Strong;  that  if  Mr.  Strong  could 
satisfy  them  of  his  Republicanism,  and  that  his 
policy,  if  elected,  would  be  one  for  the  protection 
and  strengthening  of  the  Eepublican  party,  I  had 
no  doubt  those  gentlemen  could  be  induced  to  come 
into  line  for  him. 

Mr.  Phillips  approved  of  this,  and  took  a  cab 
and  drove  to  the  office  of  Commissioner  Murray 
and  got  him  to  accompany  him,  and  returned  to 
Mr.  Strong's  office,  and  Mr.  Murray  had  an  in- 
terview in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Phillips.  Imme- 
diately afterward,  at  my  request,  Mr.  Murray  de- 
tailed the  interview  in  full,  and  Mr.  Phillips  certi- 
fied to  the  correctness  of  it,  which  statement  is 
in  my  possession.  During  their  absence  from  my 
office,  I  sent  for  Judge  Patterson,  and  got  him 
here,  and  he  was  present  when  Mr.  Murray  and 
Mr.  Phillips  returned.  Upon  hearing  their  re- 
port, it  was  arranged  that  Mr.  Patterson  should 
go  at  once  to  the  Mayor  and  confirm  these  state- 
ments, which  he  did,  and  immediately  thereafter 
detailed  his  conference  in  writing,  with  the  Mayor, 
which  confirmed  in  every  respect  the  assurances 
given  to  Mr.  Murray.  In  these  conversations  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Mayor  made  the  pledges    reported    by    Messrs. 
Murray,  Patterson  and  Phillips. 

Upon  the  strength  of  these  assurances  and 
pledges,  these  gentlemen,  Murray  and  Patterson, 
at  once  went  to  work  to  put  the  organization  in 
line  for  his  nomination,  and  did  secure  his  nomi- 
nation, which  could  not  have  been  an  accomplished 
fact  under  any  other  circumstances. 

BKOOKFIELD  FOB  BLISS 

Mr.  Brookfield  at  this  time  and  up  to  the  very 
evening  of  the  meeting  of  the  county  convention 
was  for  Cornelius  N.  Bliss  for  Mayor;  and  when 
he  was  informed  on  the  evening  of  the  conven- 
tion that  it  was  the  intention  to  nominate  Mr. 
Strong,  he  expressed  great  surprise  and  said  that 
this  had  a  very  bad  look,  and  that  these  gentlemen 
would  not  nominate  Mr.  Strong  unless  they  had 
some  understanding  with  him. 

During  the  whole  of  the  canvass  prior  to  the 
election,  I  had  no  communication  whatever,  direct 
or  indirect,  with  the  mayoralty  candidate.  I  did 
object  to  his  taking  advisers  and  managers  of  his 
campaign  entirely  from  one  faction  of  the  party. 
In  order  to  fix  that  up,  he  arranged  for  an  advisory 
committee,  which  committee  was  never  called  upon 
for  either  advice  or  work. 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


MY    PACT    WITH    STRONG 

After  election,  the  first  interview  I  had  with  the 
Mayor  was  an  accidental  one  at  the  rooms  of  the 
Governor-elect  (Levi  P.  Morton),  at  the  Hotel 
Eenaissance.  In  that  interview,  which  lasted  for 
half  or  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Governor-elect,  I  took  occasion,  after  con- 
gratulating him  upon  his  election,  to  give  him 
assurances  of  my  cordial  and  hearty  support  in 
the  administration  of  his  office,  and  that  I  was  not 
only  willing  but  anxious  to  hold  up  his  hands  in 
every  way ;  that  I  had  no  motive  or  desire  except 
the  strengthening  of  the  Eepublican  party  in  this 
city.  And  in  return  for  these  assurances,  I  was 
told  by  him  that  he  was  just  as  good  a  Eepublican 
as  I  was,  and  just  as  anxious  for  the  welfare  of 
the  party.  He  said  that  in  the  distribution  of 
patronage  he  would  be  obliged  to  recognize,  in 
some  way,  all  the  political  elements  which  sup- 
ported him,  but  that  he  should  do  everything  in 
his  power  consistently  to  sustain  the  organization 
of  the  party  here  and  strengthen  it.  I  told  him 
that  in  all  matters  of  legislation,  whatever  influ- 
ence I  could  exert  in  the  interest  of  his  admin- 
istration, would  be  exerted.  And  the  Governor 
took  occasion  to  state  to  him  that  he  had  known 
me  for  many  years,  and  that  where  I  was  a  friend, 
I  was  a  strong  friend,  and  he  assured  him  that  he 
would  have  no  better  friend  than  I  in  any  matters 
connected  with  the  management  of  the  affairs  of 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

his  office.  As  to  the  details  of  the  distribution  of 
patronage,  nothing  was  said  at  that  interview. 
He  said  he  would  take  great  pleasure  in  consulting 
with  me,  when  the  time  came,  with  reference  to 
matters  of  patronage. 

The  next  interview  that  I  had  with  His  Honor 
the  Mayor  was  at  the  dinner  of  the  Black  Lake 
Fishing  Club.  For  perhaps  half  an  hour  I  sought 
to  sit  beside  him,  and  did  sit  beside  him,  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  affairs  of  the  party.  A 
conversation  of  about  the  same  general  character 
occurred  as  to  my  desire  to  support  him  and  sus- 
tain him.  I  there  stated  to  him  that  I  considered 
it  of  the  greatest  importance,  with  reference  to 
the  interests  of  the  party,  that  two  important 
places  in  his  gift  should  be  assigned  to  Eepubli- 
cans,  and  those  were  the  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works  and  the  Corporation  Counsel;  that  it  did 
not  make  much  difference  what  became  of  the  rest 
if  those  two  offices  were  in  the  hands  of  Eepubli- 
cans;  and  that  I  considered  it  of  paramount  im- 
portance that  the  men  who  were  put  in  those  places 
should  be  men  of  undoubted  Eepublicanism,  and 
with  excellent  qualifications  for  the  places.  He 
stated  that  he  proposed  to  appoint  a  Eepublican 
Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  but  he  was  not 
so  clear  in  his  mind  as  to  the  Corporation  Counsel, 
though  he  would  have  to  give  it  to  the  Democrats. 
I  mildly  protested  against  this  as  being,  in  my 
judgment,  bad  politics,  but  he  seemed  to  be  quite 
determined,  and  I  rather  inferred  from  that  con- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

versation  that  he  had  somebody  in  mind.  I  said 
that  I  had  only  one  request  to  make  of  him,  and 
that  was,  when  he  came  to  the  question  of  select- 
ing a  man  for  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works, 
that  I  should  be  consulted  and  be  allowed  to  have 
something  to  say  about  that  matter.  He  promised 
me  that  I  should,  and  said  that  there  was  no  man 
in  the  party  whose  opinion  he  would  be  more  likely 
to  accept  than  mine,  in  that  respect. 

The  next  conversation  that  I  had  with  him  was 
after  a  visit  from  our  mutual  friend  Phillips,  in 
which  he  told  me  that  the  Mayor  was  desirous  of 
seeing  me;  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  he 
would  have  to  take  into  consideration  the  ques- 
tion of  the  personnel  of  the  office  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Works ;  that  private  information 
had  come  to  him  that  Commissioner  Daly  was  go- 
ing to  resign.  This  was  the  last  of  the  week,  and 
the  first  of  the  next  week  the  resignation  was 
likely  to  come  into  his  hands,  and  he  wanted  to  act 
promptly  upon  the  matter  of  his  successor,  and 
requested  that  I  should  name  two  or  three  men  as 
suitable  candidates  for  that  place,  and  also  in- 
timated that  he  would  like  to  see  me.  Mr.  Phil- 
lips made  an  arrangement  for  me  to  call  upon 
him,  and  I  went  to  the  office  of  the  New  York  Life 
and  met  him  there  by  appointment. 

PROMISES  TO  RETAIN  MURRAY  AND  KERWIN 

In  that  conversation,  the  subject  of  the  Power 
of  Eemoval  Bill  was  discussed,  and  I  assured  him 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  I  was  ready  to  cooperate  to  secure  whatever 
kind  of  legislation  he  required  in  that  respect. 
But  as  a  preliminary  to  that,  I  wanted  to  know 
whether  he  had  any  intention  of  removing  Com- 
missioners Murray  and  Kerwin,  stating  to  him 
in  that  conversation  that  in  my  opinion  these  men 
were  not  only  true  Eepublicans,  but  honest  men, 
and  were  in  no  way  under  obligations  to  Tam- 
many Hall  for  their  appointment ;  and  but  for  se- 
curing their  appointment  prior  to  the  election,  we 
could  not  have  secured  an  honest  election  in  the 
city;  and  in  my  judgment  it  was  very  doubtful 
whether  he  could  have  been  elected,  because  with 
their  support  we  had  the  support  of  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Police,  and  it  made  a  difference  of 
25,000  or  30,000  votes  at  the  least  calculation  in 
the  Eepublican  vote  of  the  city.  He  assented  to 
all  this,  and  assured  me  that  he  could  not  think 
of  removing  these  men;  that  he  believed  them 
to  be  all  that  I  said,  and  I  might  rest  assured 
that  under  no  circumstances  would  those  men  be 
removed.  We  then  took  up  the  question  of  the 
resignation  of  Commissioner  Daly,  and  I  told  him 
that  I  did  not  believe  there  was  any  such  purpose 
intended,  but  that  I  could  find  out  very  soon  (this 
occurred  on  Saturday),  and  that  I  would  let  him 
know  by  Monday  whether  there  was  anything  in 
that  statement.  I  did  investigate,  and  found  there 
was  no  such  intention,  and  said  to  him  that  until 
it  was  a  settled  fact  that  Mr.  Daly  was  going  to 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

resign,  I  did  not  care  to  make  any  suggestions  as 
to  nominees  for  the  Commissionership. 

The  Power  of  Eemoval  Bill  passed  the  Assem- 
bly and  was  in  the  shape  that  was  recommended 
by  the  Committee  of  Seventy.  Immediately  after 
its  passage,  mutual  friend  Phillips  called  upon 
me  again,  saying  that  he  had  just  come  from  the 
Mayor  and  was  anxious  that  the  bill  should  be 
amended,  chiefly  as  to  the  four-months'  clause,  he 
desiring  to  change  it  to  six  months,  and  also  that 
he  desired  it  to  be  amended  so  that  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  should  not  be  clothed 
with  the  same  powers  and  privileges  that  he  was. 
I  immediately  communicated  with  the  Eepublican 
leaders  in  the  Senate  at  Albany,  and  told  them 
what  the  Mayor  desired,  and  told  them  that  I 
thought  the  bill  ought  to  be  amended  to  meet  his 
wishes.  This  was  promptly  done,  very  much  to 
the  embarrassment  of  our  friends  in  the  Senate, 
who  were  charged  by  our  friends  in  the  Assembly 
with  trifling  with  them  and  making  them  appear 
ridiculous. 


I  SUGGEST  GKANT  OB  WELLS 

The  next  and  last  interview  that  I  had  with  him 
(Strong)  was  after  the  Power  of  Eemoval  Bill 
had  passed  or  was  about  to  pass,  when  mutual 
friend  Phillips  made  an  engagement  for  me  to 
meet  him  at  his  house,  where  I  spent  the  evening, 
remaining  at  least  two  hours  or  two  hours  and  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

half.  At  that  interview  he  renewed  and  empha- 
sized his  assurances  that  under  no  circumstances 
would  Murray  and  Kerwin  be  removed,  going  so 
far  as  to  say,  in  his  opinion,  it  would  be  an  out- 
rage to  turn  so  good  and  true  men  and  Bepubli- 
cans  out  of  place ;  men  who  had  served  the  party 
so  well  and  to  whom  he  was  under  such  obliga- 
tions. The  question  of  the  Commissioner  ship  of 
Public  Works  was  considered,  and  he  asked  me 
to  suggest  two  or  three  names.  First  I  suggested 
Hon.  James  L.  Wells,  of  this  city,  stating  that  he 
was  a  man  of  high  character,  excellent  business 
qualifications,  a  good  executive  man,  and  that  I 
would  vouch  for  him  as  being  an  honest,  capable 
and  efficient  man  in  that  place.  He  did  not  seem 
to  be  pleased  with  that  suggestion,  because  he 
said  he  knew  nothing  about  him,  and  had  never 
heard  of  him.  I  then  suggested  the  name  of 
Colonel  Fred  D.  Grant,  stating  that  he  was  a  man 
who  was  not  in  any  way  connected  with  either  fac- 
tion ;  was  a  man  whose  name  would  give  character 
and  strength  to  the  position,  and  who  was  capable 
of  discharging  the  duties  of  the  office  to  his  sat- 
isfaction and  satisfaction  of  the  party.  His  an- 
swer was :  '  '  That  is  a  good  name.  I  do  not  think 
we  need  look  any  further."  And  I  left  him  with 
the  feeling  that  he  intended  to  make  Colonel  Grant 
the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works.  I  have  no 
doubt  at  that  time  that  he  did  think  so,  because  I 
have  heard  from  several  sources  that  he  stated 
that  for  two  or  three  days  that  was  his  purpose. 

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This  is  the  only  suggestion  that  I  have  ever  made 
to  him  in  the  way  of  patronage,  either  directly  or 
indirectly.  And  that  one  recommendation  was  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  make  this  place,  which 
was  the  most  important  place  in  his  gift,  free  from 
faction,  and  have  some  man  put  there  who  would 
distribute  the  favors  with  reference  to  the  good 
of  the  party. 

STRONG  REPUDIATES  PLEDGES 

How  Colonel  Strong  violated  his  agreement  was 
disclosed  soon  after  his  election.  Despite  his 
pledges,  he  made  absolutely  no  appointments  of 
men  recommended  by  the  Eepublican  organization. 
He  named  as  his  Corporation  Counsel,  Francis 
M.  Scott,  now  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Scott  had,  as  the  spokesman  for  William  B. 
Grace,  arisen  in  the  final  conference  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Seventy,  and  avowed  that  neither  Grace 
nor  he  nor  the  organization  he  represented  would 
support  Colonel  Strong,  but  would  insist  upon 
the  nomination  of  a  Democrat  for  Mayor.  Colonel 
Strong  secured  the  backing  of  Grace  and  his  or- 
ganization afterward,  by  promising  that  Scott 
should  get  the  position  he  finally  was  awarded. 

William  Brookfield,  who  was  at  that  time  doing 
all  he  could  to  cause  the  organization  to  repudiate 
my  friends,  was  appointed  to  the  Commissioner- 
ship  of  Public  Works,  the  most  important  office 
within  the  gift  of  the  Mayor.  Colonel  Waring 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  put  in  charge  of  the  Street  Cleaning  Depart- 
ment, and  no  organization  leader  could  get  a  place 
from  him  during  his  entire  administration. 

MUBBAY  AND  KEBWIN  BEMOVED 

Within  about  six  weeks  after  the  passage  of  the 
bill  granting  absolute-  power  of  removal  to  the 
Mayor,  Strong  lopped  off  the  heads  of  Police  Com- 
missioners Murray  and  Kerwin,  the  Eepublican 
members  of  the  board.  He  did  this  despite  a  posi- 
tive pledge  to  Governor  Morton  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Saxton  and  myself  that  if  he  were 
granted  the  proposed  legislation  he  would  retain 
both  Murray  and  Kerwin. 

Thus  was  Murray  rewarded  for  his  activity  in 
procuring  Strong's  nomination.  On  election 
night,  Strong  had  put  his  arm  around  Murray  at 
Police  Headquarters,  and  in  the  presence  of  many 
persons  effusively  thanked  him  for  his  nomination 
and  election.  Mayor  Strong  never  publicly,  so 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  furnished 
the  slightest  reason  for  removing  Commissioners 
Murray  and  Kerwin.  A  friend  of  the  Mayor  has 
told  me  since  that  the  Mayor  assured  him  that 
he  awakened  one  night  and  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  ought  to  get  rid  of  Murray  and  Kerwin.  Then 
t  he  prayed  over  it  and  finally  concluded  to  carry 
his  design  into  execution. 


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BEOOKFIELD    PUNISHED 

In  the  winter  of  1894,  while  Mayor-elect  Strong 
was  making  up  his  cabinet,  there  came  an  ir- 
resistible demand  for  a  change  in  the  chairman- 
ship of  the  Republican  County  Committee.  Will- 
iam Brookfield  then  held  the  place,  and  it  soon 
became  known  that  he  was  to  be  Strong's  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Works  and  use  the  patronage  of 
that  great  office  to  cripple  the  majority  faction 
in  the  organization.  Convinced  that  this  could 
and  must  not  be  tolerated,  I  sent  for  Commissioner 
Murray  and  advised  with  him  as  to  who  our  can- 
didate should  be.  We  agreed  that  we  should  get 
behind  Edward  Lauterbach.  While  Commissioner 
Murray  and  myself  were  consulting  in  my  office, 
Mr.  Lauterbach  entered.  I  said  to  him:  "Mr. 
Murray  and  myself  have  been  considering  the 
reorganization  of  the  Kepublican  County  Com- 
mittee. We  have  determined  that  you  are  the 
man  to  make  a  sacrifice  in  behalf  of  the  organiza- 
tion." 

Mr.  Lauterbach  asked  what  it  was.  I  replied: 
"We  have  determined  upon  you  as  the  man  to 
be  the  next  chairman  of  the  Kepublican  County 
Committee.  Mr.  Murray  thinks  he  can  elect  you 
as  such,  and  I  want  you  should  take  the  office." 

Mr.  Lauterbach  replied  that  although  it  would 
be  a  personal  sacrifice  for  him  to  accept  the  of- 
fice, yet  he  was  always  willing  to  obey  the  com- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

mands  of  the  organization,  and  that  if  I  thought 
he  could  be  of  any  benefit  to  the  party,  he  would 
become  a  candidate.  Though  the  combined  power 
of  the  incoming  municipal  administration  was  ar- 
rayed against  us,  we  finally  succeeded  in  electing 
Mr.  Lauterbach  over  Brookfield  by  a  small 
plurality. 

That  gave  my  friends  and  myself  more  abso- 
lute control  of  the  New  York  County  organization 
than  at  any  time  since  I  was  made  the  State  leader 
of  my  party. 

"l  CAN  WRITE  A  LIE  AS  EASY  AS  TELL  IT" 

That  Strong  deliberately  repudiated  his  con- 
tract was  substantiated  when,  after  his  appoint- 
ments were  announced,  Lauterbach,  as  chairman 
of  the  County  Committee,  offered  a  formal  pro- 
test and  flung  in  Strong's  face  the  written  evi- 
dence of  his  perfidy. 

Strong  "ha-ha-ed!"  and  returned:  "Well,  I 
can  write  a  lie  as  easily  as  I  can  tell  one.  I  am 
independent  of  you  now,  you  know." 

The  "cuss"  words  that  Lauterbach  then  applied 
to  Strong  would  burn  the  cover  of  this  book. 

Strong  was  another  of  the  fellows  who  wore  a 
little  bunch  of  whiskers  under  his  chin. 

One  effect  of  my  experience  with  him  was  to 
call  for  a  barber  and  have  my  beard  trimmed 
close,  and  studiously  avoid  permitting  the  growth 
of  any  tuft  on  my  neck. 

295 


LEVI   P.  MORTON 


B.   B.   ODELL,   JR. 

296 


DAVID  B.  HILL 


CHAPTER  XVI 
1894-1897 

Popular  sentiment  makes  Morton  Governor — I 
christened  "Father  of  Greater  New  York"— 
Insertion  of  gold  Plank  in  St.  Louis  platform 
greatest  achievement  of  my  career — Why  I 
supported  Morton  against  McKinley  for 
Presidential  nomination — Opponents  offer 
me  but  I  decline  the  Gubernatorial  nomina- 
tion— Black  chosen  after  free-for-all  fight. 

WHILE  the  preliminary  steps  were  being  taken 
to  nominate  Colonel  Strong  for  Mayor,  there  was 
much  to  do  to  name  a  State  and  Legislative  ticket, 
that  would  not  only  aid  in  making  New  York  City 
surely  Republican,  but  the  entire  commonwealth 
as  well.  The  Democrats  seemed  firmly  intrenched 
at  Albany  as  in  New  York.  Eoswell  P.  Flower  was 
Governor. 

I  concluded,  early  in  the  spring  of  1894,  that 
to  redeem  the  State  the  Eepublicans  must  select 
for  their  ticket  the  strongest  men  available. 

I  asked  leaders  everywhere  to  give  me  their  un- 
biased views  as  to  who  would  best  insure  the  re- 
instatement of  the  party  in  power.  With  prac- 
tical unanimity,  they  told  me  that  the  one  man 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

surest  to  do  this  was  Levi  P.  Morton.  He  had 
been  Ambassador  to  France,  Vice-President  under 
the  Harrison  administration,  and  several  times  a 
formidable  candidate  for  U.  S.  Senator. 

So  pronounced  was  the  sentiment  for  Morton, 
that  in  the  summer  I  publicly  declared  him  my 
personal  choice  for  the  Governorship.  J.  Sloat 
Fassett,  who  had  made  an  unsuccessful  fight  three 
years  earlier,  was  most  vehement  in  his  objec- 
tions, feeling  that  he  was  entitled  to  head  the 
ticket  again.  I  thought  Fassett  was  young  and 
could  afford  to  wait. 

Despite  his  personal  threats  to  do  all  he  could 
to  defeat  Morton  and  nominate  himself,  I  set 
things  in  motion  to  procure  Morton  delegates. 

Morton  was  nominated  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority at  Saratoga.  He  was  elected  by  over  156,- 
000,  his  opponent  being  David  B.  Hill,  whom  in  a 
last  desperate  moment  the  Democrats  put  up 
against  him.  For  the  first  time,  I  think,  in  history 
the  State  and  city  of  New  York  were  simulta- 
neously carried  by  our  party. 

The  achievements  of  the  Morton  administration 
were  great  indeed.  Under  it  the  people  created 
the  Greater  New  York,  reformed  the  excise  and 
election  laws  and  undid  much  of  the  evil  perpe- 
trated by  the  Democratic  regime  that  preceded  it. 

HOW  WE  CHEATED  GBEATEK  NEW  YOKK 

When  in  1896  news  came  from  Albany  that 
Governor  Morton  had  approved  the  bill  creating 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  Greater  New  York,  I  received  a  call  from  the 
late  Andrew  H.  Green,  chairman  of  the  Greater 
New  York  Commission.  Bubbling  over  with  joy, 
that  venerable  patriot  grasped  me  by  the  hand 
and  exclaimed:  "I  came  in  to  express  my  grati- 
tude to  the  Father  of  the  Greater  New  York." 

As  I  returned  his  grip,  I  could  not  refrain  from 
saying:  "And  I  desire,  to  express  my  apprecia- 
tion of  the  marvelous  devotion  and  work  of  the 
Grandfather  of  the  Greater  New  York." 

Green  had  been  a  pioneer  in  the  movement  for 
the  consolidation  of  New  York,  Kings,  Queens  and 
Eichmond  counties  into  one  imperial  city.  For 
upward  of  twenty  years  this  far-seeing  citizen 
had  labored  to  bring  into  union  the  people  on 
Manhattan,  Long  and  Staten  islands.  The  rea- 
lization of  his  dreams  made  him  very  happy. 

To  Andrew  H.  Green  must  be  accorded  the 
greatest  measure  of  praise  for  the  establishment 
of  what  now  is  popularly  known  as  the  Greater 
City  of  New  York. 

Of  the  part  I  played  in  aiding  in  the  enter- 
prise I  prefer  that  another  than  myself  should 
speak.  No  man  is  more  competent  to  do  this  than 
Clarence  Lexow,  who  as  a  State  Senator  led  the 
fight  at  Albany  for  the  enactment  of  the  legisla- 
tion that  resulted  in  bringing  into  one  munici- 
pality three  large  cities  and  four  counties.  Sena- 
tor Lexow  has  graciously  reduced  to  writing  for 
these  reminiscences  his  observations.  I  am  glad 
to  include  them  here.  Here  is  Lexow 's  own  ver- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sion  as  to  how  the  Greater  New  York  came  into 
being: 

LEXOW    RECITES    HOW    IT    WAS   DONE 

No  history  of  the  creation  of  the  Greater  City 
would  be  complete  that  failed  to  accord  to  Senator 
Platt  a  large  and,  in  some  respects,  a  determina- 
tive share  in  the  struggle  that  preceded  the  final 
triumph  of  the  movement.  A  brief  review  of  the 
facts  may  be  useful.  The  popular  movement  it- 
self may  be  said  to  have  had  its  practical  incep- 
tion in  the  Legislative  session  of  1890,  when  a 
commission  was  authorized  by  the  Legislature, 
known  as  the  Municipal  Consolidation  Commis- 
sion, to  inquire  into  the  situation,  and  report  its 
conclusions.  This,  after  an  extended  inquiry,  re- 
ported in  a  memorial,  addressed  to  the  Governor 
and  the  Legislature,  in  favor  of  municipal  con- 
solidation. 

At  this  juncture,  prominent  citizens  in  large 
numbers,  but  in  a  minority  in  the  city  of  Brook- 
lyn, organized  an  aggressive  opposition  and  con- 
centrated the  social  and  political  activities  of  that 
city  against  the  further  progress  of  the  move- 
ment. So  successful  were  they  then  in  paralyzing 
the  efforts  of  the  great  majority  standing  behind 
consolidation,  that  for  the  next  three  years,  every 
Legislative  measure  designed  to  carry  consolida- 
tion into  effect  was  either  strangled  in  committee 
or  met  defeat  on  the  floor. 

Finally,  in  the  session  of  1894,  a  compromise 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  effected,  and  the  first  important  step  forward 
was  taken  in  the  enactment  of  a  bill,  providing 
for  the  submission  of  the  question  of  consolida- 
tion at  the  next  general  election  to  the  electors 
of  the  several  municipalities  directly  affected. 
This  compromise  was  forced  by  disquieting  ru- 
mors which  the  anti-consolidationists  had  actively 
spread  throughout  the  State,  predicting  that  con- 
solidation was  certain  to  result  in  the  subjection 
of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  to  the  dominion  of  Tam- 
many Hall,  coupled  with  the  assertion  that  Brook- 
lyn, then  about  evenly  divided  in  political  affilia- 
tions, was  strongly  opposed  to  consolidation.  The 
referendum  resulted  in  a  popular  expression  in 
favor  of  consolidation,  the  majority  in  the  city 
of  New  York  exceeding  40,000,  while  that  in  the 
city  of  Brooklyn  was  less  than  300. 

Immediately  upon  the  convening  of  the  Legis- 
lature, in  the  session  of  1895,  a  bill  providing  for 
consolidation,  drawn  at  the  instance  of  the  first 
commission  under  the  inspiration  of  the  late  An- 
drew H.  Green,  was  introduced  by  the  writer,  and 
was  followed  by  other  proposed  measures  of  a 
similar  character,  but  loaded  down  with  provisions 
for  equal  taxation,  autonomous  governments,  etc., 
having  for  their  purpose  directly  or  indirectly  to 
obscure  the  true  issue  and  defeat  the  project. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  opposition  had  perfected 
its  organization,  under  the  name  of  the  Loyal 
League  of  Brooklyn,  established  a  local  bureau 
at  Albany,  and  numerous  agencies  throughout  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

State,  equipped  with  ample  resources  to  carry  on 
an  aggressive  campaign.  The  small  majority  in 
Brooklyn  was  pointed  to  as  of  no  binding  effect 
upon  the  Legislature,  and  the  ghost  of  Tammany 
domination  was  held  up  before  the  Eepublicans 
of  the  State,  who  were  cajoled  with  promises  and 
threatened  with  dire  consequences  to  future  party 
success,  if  the  bill  for  consolidation  was  enacted 
into  law. 

The  friends  of  municipal  consolidation  had  per- 
fected no  organization  to  meet  such  an  attack,  and 
after  a  bitter,  prolonged  struggle  in  the  Senate, 
the  bill  failed  of  passage. 

"PLATT  COMES  TO  THE  KESCUE" 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Senator  Platt,  who 
until  then  had  not  taken  an  active  interest  in  the 
question,  was  requested  to  come  to  the  rescue  and 
exercise  his  powerful  influence  in  favor  of  consoli- 
dation. He  hesitated  at  first  to  enter  the  field, 
after  so  strong  and  direct  an  expression  of  Re- 
publican opposition,  especially  in  view  of  the  pro- 
nounced hostility  to  the  movement  on  the  part 
of  many  of  the  most  influential  party  leaders,  who, 
in  other  matters,  were  among  his  most  devoted 
friends.  Notably  was  this  true  of  Benjamin  B. 
Odell,  Jr.,  then  chairman  of  the  State  committee, 
and  for  two  terms  Governor  of  the  State.  Indeed, 
it  required  unusual  courage,  under  the  circum- 
stances, to  undertake  a  task  so  fraught  with  ap- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

parent  political  peril,  and  so  bitterly  antagonized 
by  powerful  interests,  deceived  by  the  threats  and 
catchwords  of  the  opposition — antagonism  based 
in  the  main  upon  questions  involving  future  party 
supremacy. 

The  fate,  certainly  for  the  present  generation, 
if  not  forever,  of  the  creation  of  Greater  New 
York  hung  in  the  balance  during  these  days  that 
Senator  Platt  devoted  to  a  careful  examination 
of  the  many  questions  involved,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  present  and  of  the  future,  because  as  after- 
ward clearly  appeared,  there  was  no  influence  of 
sufficient  magnitude  in  this  State  to  have  secured 
the  favorable  passage  of  the  bill,  had  his  decision 
then  been  adverse  to  the  project.  But  the  dic- 
tates of  patriotic  and  constructive  statesmanship 
overcame  the  over-cautious  fears  of  the  politician. 

CONSOLIDATION    BIGHT    AND    LOGICAL 

Senator  Platt  reached  the  decision  that  con- 
solidation was  right  and  logical  and  necessary  to 
the  complete  and  rational  development  of  the 
metropolis;  that  it,  moreover,  involved  none  of 
the  dangers  which  its  opponents  flamboyantly 
predicted,  but  on  the  contrary  was  an  irrepressi- 
ble movement  which,  aside  from  the  glamor  of 
greatness;  was  inspired  by  consideration  of  com- 
mercial expansion  and  supremacy  of  a  city  whose 
existence  as  the  metropolis  of  this  hemisphere 
was  being  threatened.  No  sooner  did  the  Senator 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

reach  this  conclusion,  than  an  organization  against 
consolidation  was  met  by  a  more  effective  organi- 
zation in  favor  of  municipal  union.  And  at  the 
opening  of  the  Legislative  session  of  1896,  two 
organizations  confronted  each  other,  in  probably 
the  most  aggressive  and  in  some  respects  most 
theatrical  struggle  for  supremacy  that  has  ever 
been  witnessed  at  the  State  capital. 

A  campaign  of  education  was  launched,  and 
under  a  concurrent  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  a 
committee,  of  which  the  writer  was  chairman,  was 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  situation,  particu- 
larly in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  and  report  its  con- 
clusions. Hearings  were  had  both  in  New  York 
City  and  Brooklyn,  and  later  in  the  capitol  at 
Albany.  By  a  unanimous  vote  the  committee  re- 
ported in  favor  of  consolidation  and  presented  a 
bill  to  accomplish  that  object.  It  was  then  that 
the  real  contest  in  the  Legislature  developed.  And 
while  the  bill  met  no  serious  obstacle  in  the  Sen- 
ate, it  was  not  until  the  last  vote  in  the  Assembly 
was  counted  that  its  success  became  assured. 

THE  STRUGGLE  CLOSE  AND  BITTER 

Seldom,  in  all  the  many  bitter  contests  that 
have  been  developed  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly 
Chamber,  has  there  ever  been  witnessed  so  fierce 
and  close  a  struggle  as  attended  the  passage  of 
this  bill. 

It  required  all  Senator  Platt's  energy,  and  the 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

full  weight  of  his  influence  throughout  the  State, 
to  secure  a  constitutional  majority.  Those  who 
were  active  in  that  impressive  drama,  and  espe- 
cially those  who  participated  in  the  steps  leading 
up  to  its  final  climax,  fully  appreciate  the  rest- 
less activity  and  indomitable  courage  that  ani- 
mated the  Senator  during  the  anxious  hours  when 
the  strongest  and  bitterest  opponents  of  the  bill 
were  to  be  counted  among  his  otherwise  strongest 
friends  and  party  followers. 

They  fully  appreciate  that  but  for  his  self-deny- 
ing efforts,  at  the  risk  of  the  alienation  of  friends 
on  every  side,  and  but  for  his  unselfish  devotion 
to  a  great  principle  of  public  policy,  New  York 
would  not  be  crowned  to-day  with  the  diadem  of 
imperial  city  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  To 
Senator  Platt,  indeed,  belongs  the  highest  credit 
for  this,  perhaps  the  greatest  creative  measure 
that  has  been  placed  upon  the  statute  books  of 
the  State. 

Senator  Platt 's  interest  in  Greater  New  York 
did  not  abate  with  the  mere  Legislative  creation 
of  the  metropolis.  On  the  contrary,  the  commis- 
sion which  was  appointed  to  frame  the  charter, 
and  the  Legislative  committee  which  was  contin- 
ued as  an  auxiliary  to  aid  in  that  respect,  con- 
ferred repeatedly  with  the  Senator  throughout 
the  summer  of  1896,  and  many  of  the  Senator's 
suggestions  upon  questions  of  general  importance 
and  policy  were  approved  and  embodied  in  the 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

charter  which  was  passed  at  the  next  session  of 
the  Legislature. 

Many  may  aspire  to  recognition  as  pioneers 
in  the  great  movement  for  municipal  union.  Many 
may  claim  the  rendition  of  distinguished  service 
during  the  evolutionary  stages  and  in  the  final 
successful  accomplishment.  The  name  of  Andrew 
H.  Green  will  be  remembered  as  long  as  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Greater  New  York  itself  lasts,  as  the 
indefatigable  advocate  and  unswerving  champion 
of  the  cause.  But  no  history  of  that  ideal  con- 
ception and  marvelous  creation  will  be  truthful 
or  adequate  which  fails  to  concede  to  Senator  Platt 
the  undeniable  tribute  that  his  work,  energy  and 
self-denial  made  Greater  New  York  possible  of 
achievement  for  the  present  generation. 

THE  "CLINCHER"  TO  MORTON 

(Note  by  the  Editor.) 

That  Governor  Morton  originally  was  by  no 
means  favorable  to  the  Greater  New  York  enter- 
prise, and  had  to  be  admonished  by  Senator  Platt 
that  he  would  lose  his  support  for  the  Presidential 
nomination,  unless  he  approved  the  consolidation 
act,  is  revealed  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Gover- 
nor early  in  January  of  1896.  Senator  Platt  then 
sent  the  Governor  a  personal  note  that  is  believed 
to  have  induced  him  to  finally  employ  his  influence 
for  the  enactment  of  the  consolidation  law,  and 
attach  his  signature  to  it. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Here  is  Senator  Platt's  "  clincher "  to  Governor 
Morton : 

49  Broadway,  New  York, 

January  3,  1896. 
(Confidential.) 
Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton, 

Executive  Chamber,  Albany. 
MY  DEAR  GOVEKNOK: 

I  put  it  mildly  when  I  say  to  you  that  I  was 
disgusted  and  disheartened  when  General  Tracy 
handed  me  yesterday  your  letter  to  him  of  Decem- 
ber 31st,  relative  to  Greater  New  York.  When 
we  sought  and  had  the  conference  with  you  at 
General  Tracy's  house  on  this  question,  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  having  definitely  settled  what 
your  position  would  be  on  this  great  question. 
There  could  have  been  no  misunderstanding  on 
your  part  as  to  what  was  our  intention  and  pur- 
pose in  that  interview  with  you,  because  our  en- 
tire programme  was  definitely  stated  and  thor- 
oughly explained,  and  we  went  away  from  that 
conference  understanding  that  you  were  in  full 
accord  and  would  stand  by  us  to  the  end.  Now,  at 
the  very  opening  of  the  Legislature,  as  I  have  ex- 
pressed it  to  you  before,  you  "take  to  the  woods", 
and  are  leaving  us  in  the  lurch.  Nothing  can  be 
done  in  this  matter  if  you  are  going  to  pursue  the 
same  policy  that  you  did  last  year  with  reference 
to  legislation  in  this  city,  and  open  a  back-fire  on 
our  friends  in  the  Legislature,  not  only  with  cer- 
tain members  of  the  Legislature,  but  with  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

newspaper  correspondents.  I  say  to  you  that  this 
whole  business  utterly  discourages  and  demoral- 
izes me;  and  it  makes  me  wonder  what  would  be 
the  result  if  you  succeeded  in  becoming  President 
of  the  United  States  and  had  to  meet  such  issues 
as  are  involved  in  the  questions  of  the  present 
hour,  for  instance,  the  Venezuelan  question  and 
the  Bond  question.  Your  message  on  the  subject 
of  Greater  New  York  was,  to  put  it  mildly,  as 
weak  as  dishwater;  last  year  you  were  quite  out- 
spoken. Evidently  the  raid  on  you  by  Mr.  Low  and 
Company  had  its  effect.  You  understood  at  the 
interview  above  referred  to  that  this  was  what 
was  likely  to  happen;  that  the  enemies  of  the 
measure  would  do  everything  in  their  power  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  this  bill  and  would  resort 
to  just  the  arguments  that  they  are  using;  and 
would  do  everything  in  their  power  to  intimidate 
you.  This  was  our  reason  for  calling  upon  you, 
so  that  we  might  know  that  you  would  stand  firmly 
by  the  programme.  These  men  who  have  been 
visiting  you  from  Brooklyn  are,  as  you  well  know, 
the  men  who  are  the  champions  of  the  opposition. 
The  great  mass  of  the  people,  both  in  New  York 
City  and  Brooklyn,  who  favor  consolidation,  have 
not  such  a  personal  interest  in  the  matter  that 
they  take  the  trouble  to  visit  you  and  express  their 
views.  If  it  is  necessary  to  deluge  you  with  letters 
from  good  men  in  Brooklyn,  in  order  to  stiffen 
you  up,  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  do  it,  and  we 
can  have  large  committees  appointed  to  wait  upon 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

you  with  reference  to  that  question.  I  had  sup- 
posed from  the  beginning  that  you  were  in  favor 
of  it  as  a  matter  of  public  policy.  I  have  a  sus- 
picion that  our  good  friend,  Colonel  Cole,  your 
private  secretary,  has  been  frightened  by  these 
shadows,  and  is  also  in  favor  of  "taking  to  the 
woods."  Now,  as  one  of  the  results  of  your  letter 
to  General  Tracy,  Senator  Lexow  positively  de- 
clines to  be  the  Chairman  of  the  Cities  Committee, 
for  the  reason  that  he  says  he  does  not  wish  to  suf- 
fer the  same  humiliations  and  sad  experiences  that 
he  did  last  year  from  Executive  back-fire,  and 
through  your  interference  and  opposition.  This 
is  equivalent  to  demoralization  at  the  outset.  And 
if  you  are  to  persist  in  the  policy  which  you  have 
outlined  in  your  letter,  we  might  as  well  quit  right 
where  we  are  and  not  introduce  any  resolution  or 
bill  for  Greater  New  York;  but  I  assure  you  that 
you  will  be  the  greater  sufferer  from  such  a  cow- 
ardly policy.  In  such  case  I  will  not  feel  like  tak- 
ing off  my  coat  and  doing  the  work  I  contemplated 
doing  in  the  Presidential  matter.  I  might  as  well 
be  frank  with  you  now.  If  matters  of  legislation 
are  to  be  run  on  the  issue  of  the  Presidential  can- 
didacy, it  will  be  impossible  for  us  to  accomplish 
anything  upon  any  questions  which  involve  sharp 
differences  of  opinion,  however  strongly  the  bal- 
ance may  be  in  favor  of  the  course  which  the 
organization  is  recommending. 

Now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  say,  while  I  have 
spoken  with  great  frankness  and  freedom  in  this 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

matter,  I  do  not  want  you  to  take  any  offense. 
You  know  it  is  my  way  always  to  speak  out  in 
meeting ;  and  it  is  a  great  deal  better  to  say  what 
I  have  to  say  than  to  let  it  rankle. 
Yours  truly, 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

MY   FAKEWELL   SONG 

February  12,  1896,  I  recall  with  tenderness.  It 
was  on  that  night  that  I  sang  in  public  for  the  last 
time.  It  was  at  a  dinner  of  the  Progress  Club,  of 
the  Tenth  Assembly  District,  New  York  County. 
I  had  indeed  become  the  "Old  Man,"  as  my  boys 
fondly  called  me.  My  voice  trembled  both  through 
lack  of  strength  and  much  emotion.  I  did  my 
best  to  lead  the  chorus  with  my  favorite — Julia 
Ward  Howe's  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Bepublic." 

I  got  as  far  as:  "In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies, 
Christ  was  born  across  the  sea " 

Then  I  guess  I  broke  down. 

But  the  boys  took  up  the  chorus  and  ripped  out : 
"Glory,  Glory,  Hallelujah!"  with  a  lustiness  that 
brought  a  big  lump  in  my  throat. 

MY    GREATEST    TRIUMPH THE    GOLD    VICTORY    OF    '96 

It  was  in  1896  that  I  scored  what  I  regard  as 
the  greatest  achievement  of  my  political  career. 
That  was  the  insertion  of  the  gold  plank  in  the 
St.  Louis  platform.  Early  in  his  first  term  in 

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Congress,  William  McKinley,  of  Ohio,  had  first 
espoused  the  cause  of  bi-metallism,  and  then  all 
but  declared  that  the  white  instead  of  the  yellow 
metal  should  be  the  standard  of  monetary  value. 
Mark  A.  Hanna,  who  had  assumed  the  manage- 
ment of  the  campaign  whose  ultimate  object  was 
to  name  and  elect  McKinley  successor  to  Presi- 
dent Cleveland,  sent  agents  through  the  country 
two  years  in  advance  of  the  National  Convention, 
pledging  his  choice  to  gold  in  gold  States,  and 
silver  in  silver  States.  In  Wyoming,  for  instance, 
the  delegates  to  St.  Louis  were  instructed  to  sup- 
port McKinley  and  use  all  honorable  means  to 
secure  the  adoption  of  a  platform  declaring  for 
free  silver. 

Within  the  first  few  months  of  Levi  P.  Morton's 
term  as  Governor  of  New  York  I  became  convinced 
that  he  would  prove  admirable  Presidential  tim- 
ber. He  had  been  Ambassador  to  France,  had 
proved  a  dignified  and  polished  Vice-President, 
possessed  the  confidence  of  business  interests  the 
world  over,  and  had  already  established  himself 
as  the  safest  Governor  New  York  ever  had.  Ee- 
publicans  and  Democrats  and  Independents  began 
writing  me  almost  from  the  day  of  Morton's  in- 
auguration in  January,  1895,  that  if  he  were  to 
head  the  Presidential  ticket,  his  election  was  a 
certainty.  They  urged  that  having  defeated 
David  B.  Hill  by  156,000  plurality  in  1894,  after 
the  Democrats  had  carried  the  State  almost  con- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

stantly  since  1881,  he  would  be  sure  to  carry  it 
for  the  Presidency  in  1896. 

I    SUPPORT    MORTON    FOR    PRESIDENT 

So  universal  seemed  the  demand  for  Morton 
that  I  finally  formally  declared  myself  in  favor  of 
the  nomination  of  the  Governor  for  the  Presi- 
dency. 

Almost  immediately  newspapers  and  other  ad- 
vocates of  the  nomination  of  McKinley  turned 
their  batteries  upon  Morton  and  myself.  Mark 
A.  Hanna  started  a  campaign  for  his  favorite  in 
New  York  State.  Believing  that  New  York  pos- 
sessed a  right  to  express  a  preference  for  one  of 
her  sons,  we  combated  the  invasion  of  the  McKin- 
ley champions.  They  seemed  disposed  to  regard 
Morton  as  an  interloper,  and  refused  to  recognize 
any  claims  New  York  might  have  to  name  the 
Presidential  candidate.  When  assaults  upon  the 
choice  of  New  York  became  intolerable,  we  con- 
cluded that  we  would  strike  back.  I  stated  my 
objections  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  McKinley  as 
clearly  as  I  could  in  a  public  utterance,  May  11, 
1896.  Here  are  the  main  points  of  it : 


"My  opposition  to  Governor  McKinley  proceeds 
almost  entirely  from  my  belief  that  his  nomination 
would  bring  the  Eepublican  party  into  turmoil  and 

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trouble.  He  is  not  a  well-balanced  man  of  affairs. 
Governor  McKinley  is  not  a  great  man  as  Mr. 
Eeed  (Thomas  B.)  is.  He  is  not  a  trained  and 
educated  public  man  as  Senator  Allison  is.  He 
is  not  an  astute  political  leader  as  Senator  Quay 
is.  He  is  simply  a  clever  gentleman,  much  too 
amiable  and  much  too  impressionable  to  be  safely 
intrusted  with  great  executive  office;  whose  de- 
sire for  honor  happens  to  have  the  accidental  ad- 
vantage of  the  association  of  his  name  with  the 
last  Republican  protective  tariff. 

"  There  are  two  qualities — resolution  and  cour- 
age— which  the  people  always  require  in  their 
chief  magistrate.  McKinley  represents  the  most 
radical  and  extreme  view  of  protection.  I  fore- 
see the  greatest  dangers  to  the  Eepublican  party 
as  the  result  of  extreme  tariff  legislation. 

"  Fully  as  important  as  the  tariff  bill — yes,  more 
so — is  the  measure  that  must  be  devised  to  render 
our  currency  system  intelligible,  safe  and  elastic. 
If  Major  McKinley  has  any  real  convictions  on 
the  subject  of  the  currency,  they  are  not  revealed 
in  his  votes  or  his  speeches. 

HE  VOTED  FOB  A  FIFTY-CENT  DOLLAR ! 

"He  voted  once  for  free  and  unlimited  coin- 
age of  silver.  He  voted  to  override  the  veto  of 
President  Hayes  of  the  Bland  bill,  and  at  times 
he  has  voted  in  direct  conflict  with  these  votes. 
He  has  described  himself  as  a  bi-metallist ;  as  in 

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favor  of  the  free  coinage  of  both  metals.  His  Ohio 
platform  proposes  another  experiment  in  silver 
coinage,  such  as  the  Bland- Allison  act  or  the  Sher- 
man law,  with  the  party  between  the  metals  en- 
forced by  legislation. 

*  *  This  should  remove  McKinley  from  the  list  of 
Presidential  possibilities.  The  people  of  this 
country  have  had  enough  of  the  attempts  to  force 
fifty  cents  worth  of  silver  into  circulation  as  a 
dollar.  They  have  suffered  incalculable  losses 
as  a  result  of  twenty  years  of  such  politics." 

Whether  or  not  this  declaration  wielded  any 
influence  in  the  outcome  of  the  New  York  Eepub- 
lican  State  Convention,  it  is  nevertheless  the  fact 
that  that  convention  instructed  the  delegation  to 
the  National  Convention  at  St.  Louis  to  vote  first, 
last  and  all  the  time  for  Morton  for  the  Presi- 
dential nomination. 

Our  delegation  went  to  St.  Louis.  Attacks  upon 
Morton,  particularly  from  the  McKinley  camp, 
continued.  Hanna  and  his  friends  sought  by  every 
means  in  their  power  to  render  null  and  void  the 
instructions  of  the  New  York  State  Convention. 
Until  the  New  York  representatives  reached  the 
convention  city,  there  appeared  to  be  a  determined 
disposition  on  the  part  of  Hanna  and  others  who 
conducted  the  McKinley  canvass  to  pledge  the 
party  to  a  straddle  on  the  currency  question.  New 
York  and  the  Eastern  States  generally  made  up 
their  minds  that  the  convention  should  declare 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

unequivocally  for  the  gold  standard.  Senator 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  of  Massachusetts;  the  late 
Joseph  H.  Manley,  manager  for  Thomas  B.  Reed ; 
the  late  Samuel  Fessenden,  of  Connecticut;  My- 
ron T.  Herrick,  of  Ohio;  H.  H.  Kohlsaat,  of  Illi- 
nois; Governor  Merriam,  of  Minnesota;  Henry 
C.  Payne,  of  Wisconsin,  afterward  Postmaster- 
General;  Congressman  Watson  and  State  Chair- 
man Gowdy,  of  Indiana;  Senator  Eedfield  Proc- 
tor, of  Vermont  and  others,  united  with  us  in 
seeking  to  point  out  the  fatal  blunder  that  would 
be  committed  if  we  failed  to  put  ourselves  on 
record  for  sound  money  against  the  debased  cur- 
rency plan  which  was  being  advocated  by  Senator 
Henry  M.  Teller,  of  Colorado,  and  other  devotees 
of  the  white  metal. 

That  the  attitude  of  New  York  might  be  empha- 
sized, the  delegation  was  called  into  caucus  on 
June  15,  one  day  prior  to  the  assembling  of  the 
convention.  The  McKinley  managers  sought  at 
the  outset  to  capture  the  delegation  by  trying  to 
force  the  selection  of  former  TL  S.  Senator  War- 
ner Miller  for  chairman  and  spokesman  for  the 
delegation.  Of  course,  that  precipitated  a  stormy 
contest.  For  the  moment  the  money  question  was 
forgotten  in  the  strife  provoked  by  the  effort  of 
Hanna  and  other  McKinley  advocates  to  control 
us. 


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I  HAD  TO  BEAT  MILLER  AGAIN 

Miller  had  himself  formally  presented  for  chair- 
man* Very  reluctantly  I  consented  that  my  name 
also  should  be  submitted.  My  friends  urged  that 
inasmuch  as  the  battle  seemed  to  be  directed 
against  Morton,  myself  and  the  gold  standard,  I 
ought  to  be  the  man  about  whom  the  allies  of  Mor- 
ton and  a  sound  money  plank  must  rally. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  was  chosen  temporary 
chairman.  He  did  his  best,  in  a  diplomatic  speech, 
to  produce  harmony,  but  the  McKinley  men  seemed 
spoiling  for  a  fight.  Warner  Miller  delivered  a 
savage  attack  upon  those  delegates  who  still  per- 
sisted in  supporting  Morton.  He  had  been  chosen 
delegate  upon  the  express  pledge  that  he  would 
be  as  loyal  to  Morton  as  any  of  the  Governor's 
adherents.  What  promise  was  made  to  Miller 
by  the  McKinley  managers  as  a  reward  for  his 
change,  I  do  not  know.  Miller's  speech  enraged 
all  delegates  who  believed  that  promises  were 
made  to  be  fulfilled  and  instructions  to  be  obeyed. 
Convinced  that  he  could  not  be  chosen  chairman 
of  the  delegation,  Miller  sought  to  effect  a  com- 
promise by  suggesting  Depew.  Depew  declined 
the  honor.  Miller  renewed  his  strictures  upon  the 
Morton  men,  and  assailed  me  for  my  opposition 
to  McKinley.  Perhaps  as  effective  a  reply  as  any 
to  him  was  made  by  Thurlow  Weed  Barnes  when 
he  asked:  "Who  is  entitled  to  the  greater  honor 
— a  man  who  comes  out  squarely  and  makes  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

fight,  or  a  man  who  sneaked  into  this  delegation 
with  a  knife  in  his  sleeve !" 

Senator  John  Eaines  furiously  shook  his  fist 
in  Miller's  face,  and  hissed:  "You  are  the  chief 
of  the  kickers  in  New  York.  You  have  been  faith- 
less in  everything,  faithful  in  nothing ! ' ' 

After  a  morning  session,  and  another  late  in  the 
afternoon,  I  was  elected  chairman  by  a  vote  of 
53  to  17  for  Miller.  That  clinched  the  delegation 
for  Morton  and  the  gold  standard.  There  fol- 
lowed the  declaration  of  New  York  and  its  dele- 
gates on  the  currency  question.  Lemuel  Ely  Quigg 
offered  the  resolution.  It  ran  as  follows : 

NEW    YOEK    FOB    A    HUNDRED-CENT    DOLLAR 

Whereas,  The  New  York  delegation  favors  and 
heartily  supports  the  strongest  system  that  can 
be  devised,  it  recognizes  the  imperative  necessity 
of  maintaining  the  present  gold  standard  of  value 
and  condemning  the  free  coinage  of  silver. 

EESOLVED,  That  the  representative  of  the  dele- 
gation on  the  Committee  on  Eesolutions  be  in- 
structed to  present  to  that  committee  the  follow- 
ing as  the  sense  of  the  delegation  and  recommend 
its  adoption: 

EESOLVED,  That  we  favor  the  maintenance  of 
the  present  gold  standard,  and  are  opposed  to 
the  free  coinage  of  silver,  except  by  international 
agreement  for  bi-metallism,  with  the  leading  com- 
mercial nations  of  the  world. 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

This  was  unanimously  adopted,  Miller  and  other 
McKinley  men  offering  no  opposition. 

But  when  Abraham  Gruber  submitted  a  resolu- 
tion renewing  the  pledge  of  the  New  York  con- 
vention, that  every  delegate  stick  to  Morton  to 
the  finish,  the  McKinley  supporters  opposed  it. 
We  carried  it  through  by  a  vote  of  56  to  13. 

Edward  Lauterbach,  in  obedience  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  delegation,  submitted  the  gold  reso- 
lution to  the  committee.  The  influence  of  New 
York  was  manifested  when  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  approved,  and  later  the  convention 
followed  suit  with  the  adoption  of  this  genuine 
gold  plank : 

THE  PLANK  WE  FOBCED 

The  Republican  party  is  unreservedly  for  sound 
money. 

It  caused  the  enactment  of  the  law  providing 
for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  in  1879. 
Since  then,  every  dollar  has  been  as  good  as  gold. 
We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  every  measure 
calculated  to  debase  our  currency  or  impair  the 
credit  of  our  country.  We  are  therefore  opposed 
to  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  except  by  interna- 
tional agreement  with  the  leading  commercial  na- 
tions of  the  world,  which  we  pledge  ourselves  to 
promote.  And  until  such  an  agreement  can  be 
obtained,  the  existing  gold  standard  must  be  pre- 
served. All  the  silver  and  paper  currency  now 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  circulation  must  be  maintained  at  parity  with 
gold,  and  we  favor  all  measures  designed  to  main- 
tain inviolably  the  obligations  of  the  United 
States,  and  all  money  in  coin  or  paper,  at  the 
present  standard  of  the  most  enlightened  nations 
on  earth. 

I  doubt  if  I  can  better  relate  the  accurate  his- 
tory of  the  struggle  over  the  gold  plank  at  St. 
Louis  than  by  quoting  from  memoranda  prepared 
by  Charles  W.  Hackett,  chairman  of  the  New 
York  Eepublican  State  Committee,  1896.  He 
was  in  the  thick  of  the  combat,  and  was  invaluable 
to  us  in  securing  the  victory  we  achieved.  Hack- 
ett drew  up  the  notes  before  his  death,  as  an 
answer  to  statements  of  certain  Eepublicans,  hos- 
tile to  our  regular  organization,  who  sought  to 
deprive  the  New  York  and  New  England  delega- 
tions of  the  credit  of  placing  the  party  and  its 
candidates  squarely  on  the  gold  standard 
platform. 

HANNA    WOULD    HAVE    STRADDLED 

Hackett  wrote: 

"So  far  as  the  credit  for  what  was  done  is 
concerned,  the  friends  of  Mr.  Platt  and  Senator 
Lodge  are  more  than  satisfied  with  the  newspaper 
reports  that  were  printed  at  the  time.  They  told 
who  did  it.  They  showed  the  essential  fact  that 
Mr.  Hanna  and  those  who  were  working  with  him 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

came  to  St.  Louis  with  a  straddle.  Below  I  give 
the  original  Hanna  plank,  in  contrast  with  the 
plank  that  was  finally  adopted  by  the  convention. 

" Original  Hanna  plank: 

"The  Eepublican  party  is  unreservedly  for 
sound  money. 

"It  caused  the  enactment  of  the  law  pro- 
viding for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments 
in  1879.  Since  then,  every  dollar  has  been  as 
good  as  gold.  We  are  unalterably  opposed  to 
every  measure  calculated  to  debase  our  currency 
or  impair  the  credit  of  our  country.  We  are 
therefore  opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver, 
except  by  international  agreement  with  the  lead- 
ing commercial  nations  of  the  world,  and  until 
such  agreement  can  be  obtained  the  existing  stand- 
ard must  be  preserved.  We  favor  the  use  of  silver 
in  our  currency  to  the  extent  only  that  its  parity 
with  gold  can  be  maintained,  and  we  favor  all 
measures  designed  to  maintain  our  money, 
whether  coin  or  paper,  at  the  present  standard, 
the  standard  of  the  most  enlightened  nations  of 
the  earth. 

"Plank  as  adopted  by  the  convention: 

"The   Eepublican   party   is   unreservedly   for 

sound  money. 
"It  caused  the  enactment  of  the  law  providing 

for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  in  1879. 

Since  then,  every  dollar  has  been  as  good  as  gold. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

"We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  every  measure 
calculated  to  debase  our  currency  or  impair  the 
credit  of  our  country.  We  are  therefore  opposed 
to  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  except  by  interna- 
tional agreement  with  the  leading  commercial 
nations  of  the  world,  which  we  pledge  ourselves 
to  promote,  and  until  such  agreement  can  be  ob- 
tained, the  existing  Gold .  standard  must  be  pre- 
served. All  our  silver  and  paper  currency  must 
be  maintained  at  parity  with  gold,  and  we  favor 
all  measures  designed  to  maintain  inviolably  the 
obligations  of  the  United  States,  and  all  our 
money,  whether  coin  or  paper,  at  the  present 
standard,  the  standard  of  the  most  enlightened 
nations  of  the  earth. 


A  FIGHT    FOR   HONEST    MONEY 

"A  comparison  of  these  two  planks  shows  ex- 
actly what  the  fight  of  Senator  Platt  and  Senator 
Lodge,  backed  by  the  New  York  and  New  England 
delegations,  accomplished  for  the  cause  of  honest 
money,  for  the  credit  of  the  Eepublican  party  and 
for  the  good  of  the  country.  The  two  planks  are 
identical  until  the  clause  is  reached  in  which  the 
possibility  of  an  international  agreement  is  men- 
tioned, and  in  that  clause  we  conceded  the  inser- 
tion of  the  words  l  which  we  pledge  ourselves  to 
promote, '  and  in  return  for  that  we  obtained  three 
concessions.  They  were : 

" First — The  insertion  of  the  world  'gold'  in 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  expression  'the  existing  standard/  so  as  to 
make  it  read  'the  existing  gold  standard.' 

"Second — The  striking  out  of  the  clause:  'We 
favor  the  use  of  silver  in  our  currency,  but  to  the 
extent  only  that  the  parity  with  gold  can  be  main- 
tained/ and  the  substitution  for  that  clause  of 
the  following:  'All  our  silver  and  paper  cur- 
rency must  be  maintained  at  parity  with  gold'; 
and 

"Third — The  insertion  of  the  words  'the  obli- 
gations of  the  United  States'  in  the  clause  declar- 
ing that  all  our  currency  must  be  maintained  at 
the  present  standard. 

HOW  WE  DEFEATED  THE  "STRADDLE" 

"Mr.  Platt  and  his  party  arrived  at  St.  Louis 
on  Thursday,  June  11.  They  directed  their  at- 
tention at  once  to  the  financial  plank.  They  found 
that  the  sentiment  of  such  delegates  as  were  then 
on  the  ground  was  strongly  in  favor  of  what  Mr. 
Hanna  was  quoted  as  calling  'the  middle  ground' 
— in  other  words,  a  straddle.  At  Mr.  Platt 's  in- 
stance, the  New  York  delegates,  as  they  arrived, 
were  urged  to  combat  this  idea  at  all  points. 
Not  much  was  accomplished  on  Friday  and  Satur- 
day. The  contests  that  were  going  on  in  the  Na- 
tional Committee  created  a  great  deal  of  feeling 
and  distracted  attention  from  the  controversy 
about  the  platform.  But  the  National  Committee 
completed  its  work  on  Saturday  night,  and  by 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  time  the  delegates  had  arrived  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  and  fully  four-fifths  of  the 
members  of  the  convention  were  present  on  the 
ground.  It  was  then  that  the  struggle  over  the 
platform  began  in  good  earnest. 

"Senator  Lodge  arrived  on  Sunday  morning 
and  came  immediately  to  Mr.  Platt's  headquarters. 
They  found  one  another  to  be  of  the  same  mind 
as  to  the  kind  of  plank  that  must  be  adopted,  and 
as  to  their  purpose  to  fight  for  it.  Mr.  Lodge 
called  upon  Mr.  Hanna  and  found  him  engaged 
in  reading  and  revising  the  speech  of  the  tem- 
porary chairman,  Mr.  Fairbanks.  That  was  Sun- 
day afternoon.  Mr.  Fairbanks'  speech  was  given 
to  the  press  the  next  day.  It  did  not  contain  the 
word  'gold.'  It  mentioned  'honest  money'  and 
'sound  money'  and  'sound  standard,'  but  the  word 
'gold,'  which  was  the  vital  point  of  the  whole 
controversy,  did  not  appear.  This  proves  what 
the  intention  of  Mr.  Hanna  and  his  friends  was 
on  Sunday  afternoon,  when  they  had  completed 
the  revision  of  Mr.  Fairbanks'  speech. 

"Mr.  Hanna  told  Mr.  Lodge  that  while  he  was 
as  good  a  gold  man  as  anybody  else,  he  was  not 
in  favor  of  driving  away  from  the  Eepublican 
party  those  great  numbers  of  Eepublicans  in  the 
South  and  West  to  whom  the  use  of  the  word 
'gold'  in  the  platform  would  be  offensive.  Mr. 
Lodge  replied  that  he  did  not  think  there  were 
any  such  Eepublicans,  except  in  the  silver-produc- 
ing States.  He  argued  that  the  Eepublican  party 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

meant  'gold/  and  ought  to  say  so,  and  he  said 
plainly  that  unless  the  word  'gold'  was  in  the  plat- 
form there  would  be  a  fight  on  the  floor  of  the 
convention.  Mr.  Hanna  asked  what  delegation 
would  make  the  fight,  and  Mr.  Lodge  replied  that 
the  Massachusetts  would,  for  one.  Mr.  Hanna 
asked  what  delegations  would  support  Massachu- 
setts, and  Mr.  Lodge  replied  that  the  New  York 
delegation  would.  Mr.  Hanna  said  that  he  was 
otherwise  informed,  and  Mr.  Lodge  left  with  the 
impression  that  the  use  of  the  word  'gold'  would 
not  be  conceded. 

AN  INVINCIBLE  COMBINATION  FOE  GOLD 

"When  Mr.  Lodge  informed  Mr.  Platt  of  the 
results  of  his  conversation  with  Mr.  Hanna,  a 
conference  was  at  once  called  by  Mr.  Platt  of  the 
sound  money  States.  New  York,  New  England, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  Wisconsin, 
Washington,  Tennessee,  Minnesota  and  Illinois 
were  represented  at  this  conference,  and  it  was 
determined  to  carry  the  fight  on  the  floor  of  the 
convention.  A  brief  and  simple  gold  plank  was 
adopted  as  embodying  the  sense  of  the  conference. 

"This  was  on  Sunday  night.  The  next  day, 
Congressman  Quigg  had  an  interview  with  Gen- 
eral Grosvernor  and  Mr.  Herrick,  of  Ohio,  and 
Governor  Merriam,  of  Minnesota.  He  showed 
them  the  proposed  gold  plank,  named  the  delega- 
tions that  would  support  it,  and  informed  them 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  the  fight  would  have  to  go  into  the  convention 
unless  an  agreement  could  be  reached  which  would 
place  the  party  squarely  in  favor  of  the  gold 
standard.  Mr.  Quigg  was  informed  that  there 
was  a  disposition  to  meet  the  views  of  the  New 
York  and  New  England  delegations.  All  day 
Monday  the  struggle  went  on,  New  York  and  New 
England  delegates  visiting  the  delegations  from 
other  States  and  reporting  to  Mr.  Lodge  and  Mr. 
Platt  as  to  the  strength  that  could  be  commanded 
in  the  convention  in  the  event  of  a  fight  there.  Be- 
fore nightfall  it  was  evident  that  we  had  a  ma- 
jority of  the  convention. 

"That  night  Governor  Merriam  came  to  Mr. 
Platt,  and  Mr.  Kohlsaat  went  to  Mr.  Lodge,  with 
a  draft  of  the  original  Hanna  plank  with  the  word 
'gold*  inserted,  and  with  the  statement  that  it 
would  be  conceded.  Mr.  Platt  sent  for  Mr.  Lodge, 
and,  upon  his  arrival — Mr.  Lauterbach,  Mr.  Quigg 
and  Mr.  Hackett  being  also  present — the  Hanna 
plank  was  considered  in  detail.  Mr.  Lauterbach, 
who  had  been  appointed  as  the  New  York  repre- 
sentative on  the  Committee  on  Eesolutions,  de- 
clared that  he  could  not  assent  to  any  plank  which 
did  not  say  distinctly  that  all  the  obligations  of 
the  United  States  should  be  paid  in  gold.  Objec- 
tion was  also  made  to  the  sentence  'We  favor  the 
use  of  silver  as  money,  to  the  extent  only  that  its 
parity  with  gold  can  be  maintained/  on  the  ground 
that  this  would  be  considered  as  lending  counte- 
nance to  further  purchase  of  silver,  because,  in 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  view  of  the  silver  men,  much  more  silver  than 
the  sum  now  in  use  could  be  maintained.  Mr. 
Hanna's  plank  was  revised  at  this  conference  and 
put  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  finally  adopted 
by  the  convention,  and  with  the  distinct  assurance 
of  Mr.  Platt  and  Mr.  Lodge  that  nothing  else 
would  be  accepted. 


HANNA  CAPITULATES 

"When  this  conference  was  ended  the  fight  was 
ended.  We  knew  before  we  went  to  bed  that  night 
that  our  demands  were  acceded  to.  Nor  can  any 
amount  of  post-mortem  cavil  take  the  credit  of 
this  victory  from  the  men  whose  courage  and  per- 
tinacity earned  it. 

"I  do  not  myself  think  that  the  Ohio  managers 
were  sentimentally  opposed  to  the  use  of  the  word 
'gold.'  They  simply  did  not  want  to  magnify  the 
money  issue  or  offend  what  they  believed  to  be 
a  widespread  Southern  and  Western  opinion.  The 
statements  of  Southern  and  Western  delegates, 
however,  showed  that  the  Ohio  managers  were 
mistaken  in  their  idea  of  Eepublican  opinion  in 
the  South  and  West,  and  that  the  sound  money 
sentiment  among  Eepublicans  in  those  sections 
is  almost  as  general  and  as  earnest  as  it  is  with 
us  in  the  East." 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


"PLATT  MADE  M'KINLEY?S  ELECTION  CERTAIN" 

General  Clarkson  again  has  kindly  paid  me  this 
compliment:  "In  virtually  forcing  gold  into  the 
Eepublican  platform,  as  by  his  skilful  organiza- 
tion and  the  assembling  of  irresistible  forces  he 
did,  when  McKinley,  Hanna,  and  the  great  mass 
of  party  leaders  with  him  were  in  fact  opposed 
to  it,  Senator  Platt  succeeded  and,  in  succeeding, 
made  McKinley 's  election  possible.  The  cynics 
said  at  the  time  that  he  did  it  to  load  McKinley 
down  and  defeat  him.  The  result  proved  that 
McKinley  would  have  been  defeated  without  it. 
In  the  campaign  for  election,  Mr.  Platt,  in  supple- 
ment to  Mr.  Hanna  and  his  most  masterful  cam- 
paign, contributed  the  final  certainty  of  McKin- 
ley's  success — giving  again  with  Hanna,  as  he 
had  done  with  Quay,  the  saving  moiety  of  votes 
without  which  the  party  and  McKinley  would  have 
failed." 

M'KINLEY  NOMINATED 

Though  Morton  was  defeated  and  McKinley 
nominated,  to  New  York  and  its  band  of  delegates 
must  be  ascribed  the  lion's  share  of  the  credit 
for  preventing  the  approval  of  a  meaningless 
money  plank.  We  returned  home  and  worked  like 
beavers  for  McKinley  and  Hobart,  satisfied  that 
we  had  voiced  the  sentiment  of  our  State  on  all 
questions,  and  won  on  the  one  that,  if  Hanna  and 
other  powerful  leaders  had  had  their  way,  would 

327 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

have  resulted  in  defeat  at  the  polls  and  a  stain  up- 
on the  escutcheon,  not  only  of  the  party,  but  the 
National  Government. 

BLACK  NAMED  AND  ELECTED  GOVERNOR 

We  rolled  up  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  plu- 
rality for  the  national  ticket,  and  somewhat  less 
for  our  State  nominees,  headed  by  Frank  S.  Black, 
the  candidate  for  Governor. 

Black  was  nominated  after  one  of  the  most  rous- 
ing free-for-all  State  conventions  the  party  had 
had  since  war  days.  Speaker  Hamilton  Fish, 
George  W.  Aldridge,  Lieutenant-Governor  Charles 
T.  Saxton,  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  and  others  were 
among  the  aspirants.  The  rivalry  became  so  in- 
tense that  James  J.  Belden  and  a  number  of  the 
old  Half-Breed  combination  importuned  me  to 
settle  it  by  taking  the  nomination  myself.  Belden, 
while  Milholland  rooters  outside  my  cottage  were 
singing  "Hang  Tom  Platt  to  a  Sour  Apple  Tree  I" 
purred  to  me — and  Belden  was  a  sly  old  political 
fox: 

"The  boss  of  the  party  ought  to  be  Governor. 
You  are  boss ;  therefore  you  should  be  Governor. ' ' 

I  scented  another  Machiavellian  trick  to  put  me 
under  the  sod.  I  caught  the  gleam  of  Half-breed 
tomahawks  and  escaped  them  by  replying: 
"When  tried  and  true  friends  ask  me  to  run  for 
Governor,  I  may  consider  the  proposition.  No 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

friends  have  yet  urged  it;  therefore  I  shall  not 
permit  my  name  to  go  before  the  convention." 

I  declined  also  to  express  any  preference  as  to 
who  should  be  nominated.  After  a  three  days7 
contest,  during  which  several  ballots  were  taken 
and  Aldridge  was  in  the  lead,  a  conference  of  the 
leaders  was  called.  At  first  it  developed  a  ma- 
jority for  Odell.  So  sure  was  Odell  that  he  was 
to  head  the  ticket  that  he  joyously  rushed  to  a 
telegraph  office  and  wired  his  wife  of  his 
happiness. 

Meantime,  however,  Lou.  Payn  was  very  busy. 
So  busy  and  so  skilful  was  Payn,  that  within  a 
short  time  after  Odell  had  seemed  to  be  decided 
on,  he  pledged  a  majority  of  the  leaders  for  Black. 

The  conference  reconvened  and  Black  was  se- 
lected, with  Timothy  L.  Woodruff  as  his  running 
mate. 

The  convention  ratified  the  conference  agree- 
ment. Odell  was  extremely  disappointed  that  the 
delicious  cup  had  been  taken  from  his  lips  just 
as  he  was  about  to  drink  of  it.  But  he  proved  a 
good  soldier,  and  joined  us  in  electing  the  nomi- 
nees, quite  as  eagerly  as  he  would  had  his  dearest 
wish  been  fulfilled. 

Black's  resemblance  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  his 
matchless  oratory  and  the  fame  he  had  won  in 
sending  election  day  murderers  and  repeaters  to 
the  electric  chair  and  prison,  made  it  easy  to 
elect  him  and  his  associates,  and  secure  an  over- 
whelming majority  in  the  Legislature. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


I  doubt  if  I  can  more  appropriately  close  this 
chapter  than  by  testifying  to  the  sagacious  man- 
agement of  the  Presidential  canvass,  not  only  in 
1896,  but  in  1900,  by  Mark  A.  Hanna,  as  chairman 
of  the  National  Committee,  and  my  admiration 
for  him  as  a  man  and  associate  United  States 
Senator,  and  to  my  esteem  for  Levi  P.  Morton. 

Hanna  typified  the  business  man  in  politics.  His 
advent  as  a  power  in  his  Ohio  home  was  almost 
coincident  with  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  tariff 
act  in  1890. 

His  chance,  nationally,  came  when  disaster,  as 
a  result  of  a  misunderstanding  of  the  new  tariff 
act,  shattered  the  Eepublican  forces,  not  only  in 
Ohio,  but  in  other  States. 

While  other  leaders  were  in  the  doldrums, 
Hanna  reorganized  the  party  in  his  State,  and 
made  McKinley,  though  he  had  been  recently  de- 
feated for  return  to  Congress,  Governor. 

Abundantly  supplied  with  money,  and  able  to 
command  any  number  of  millions  he  needed, 
Hanna  really  began  his  campaign  to  make  McKin- 
ley President,  immediately  after  the  defeat  of 
Harrison  in  1892.  He  had  the  South  practically 
solid  before  some  of  us  awakened.  Then  he  picked 
off  enough  Western  and  Pacific  Slope  States,  be- 
fore the  convention  met,  to  render  him  and 
McKinley  invincible  in  1896. 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Hanna 's  success  as  chairman  of  the  National 
Committee  was  due  to  the  confidence  business  in- 
terests had  in  him,  and  the  unprecedented  and 
unlimited  campaign  fund  on  which  he  could  draw. 

He  would  have  been  helpless  without  this.  While 
Quay  could  and  did  win  with  or  without  money, 
Hanna  would  have  been  swamped  without  it. 

Hanna  was  a  lovable  character  personally.  His 
heart  was  as  big  as  the  house  in  which  he  lived. 
McKinley  and  he  were  as  brothers.  McKinley's 
tragic  death  quite  broke  Hanna 's  heart,  and 
hastened  his  own  demise.  He  survived  the  man 
he  twice  elevated  to  the  Presidency  only  a  few 
years.  Had  he  lived  a  bit  longer  he  might  have 
been  President.  That  appeared  to  be  his  ambi- 
tion. And  had  he  succeeded  Eoosevelt  he  would 
have  proved  a  great  President. 

MORTON,    THE    SAFE    MAN 

Levi  P.  Morton  was,  in  my  judgment,  the  safest 
Governor  New  York  ever  had.  Business  experi- 
ence had  taught  him  conservatism.  He  never  was 
influenced  by  crazy  theorists,  but  conducted  his 
administration  as  he  did  his  great  private  financial 
institutions.  Two  great  statutes  redound  to  the 
credit  of  his  regime.  One  was  the  Eaines  liquor 
tax  law,  that  absolutely  divorced  the  rum  traffic 
from  politics  and  added  at  least  fifteen  millions  to 
the  annual  revenues  of  the  State  and  localities. 
The  other  was  the  creation  of  Greater  New  York. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

For  his  approval  of  both,  Morton  should  be  re- 
garded as  a  great  public  benefactor.  He  brought 
to  the  office  the  diplomatic  skill  acquired  as  Am- 
bassador to  France  and  the  dignity  developed 
during  a  four  years'  term  as  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States. 

Morton  assumed  the  Governorship  after  twelve 
years  of  Democratic  maladministration.  Without 
beating  of  tom-toms  or  crash  of  cymbals,  the  "man 
from  Wall  Street,"  as  his  opponents  were  pleased 
to  characterize  him,  quietly  but  judiciously  reor- 
ganized the  financial  methods  of  the  common- 
wealth and  placed  them  upon  a  surplus-making 
instead  of  a  deficiency  basis.  The  people  of  New 
York  may  have  had  more  spectacular  and  preten- 
tious rulers,  but  they  never  enjoyed  the  reign  of  a 
more  sane,  conscientious  and  incorruptible  master 
than  the  one  who  was  chief  of  the  government 
from  1895  to  1897. 


333 


CHAPTEE  XVII 

1897-1898 

Personal  and  political  attacks  compel  me  to  stand 
again  for  the  Senate — Choate  pitted  against 
me  by  old-time  enemies — Electedf  but  keenly 
disappointed  that  I  was  not  returned  unani- 
mously— Views  on  protective  tariff,  finance 
and  other  national  problems — The  Low-Tracy 
mayoralty  fight — Why  I  upheld  Tracy. 

BUT  for  attacks  upon  my  private  and  public 
character,  I  should  never  have  been  a  candidate 
for  office  again.  It  so  happened,  however,  that 
after  the  Presidential  and  State  campaigns  of 
1896,  I  was  subjected  to  almost  daily  cuts  and 
thrusts  from  enemies  of  the  Eepublican  party  and 
the  New  York  organization.  Those  who  preferred 
to  misunderstand  me  and  my  friends,  saw  fit  to 
misconstrue  every  word  and  every  act. 

Almost  from  the  hour  that  the  election  returns 
disclosed  the  triumph  of  McKinley  and  Black,  and 
insured  a  Eepublican  majority  in  the  Legislature, 
I  was  besought  by  loyal  friends  to  permit  my  name 
to  go  before  the  Eepublican  caucus  for  U.  S. 
Senator.  I  had  practically  made  up  my  mind  that 
I  would  support  almost  anybody  who  had  been 
devoted  to  the  party  and  the  organization,  when  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

campaign  was  inaugurated  to  make  Joseph  H. 
Choate  the  successor  of  David  B.  Hill.  Though 
Mr.  Choate  had  never  been  my  political  friend,  I 
doubt  if  I  should  have  offered  obstinate  opposition 
to  his  candidacy  but  for  the  virulent  assaults  his 
backers  constantly  leveled  at  me.  I  received  many 
letters,  telegrams  and  personal  visits  from  those 
who  had  fought  the  battles  of  the  party  and  the 
organization,  no  matter  whether  lost  or  won,  im- 
ploring me  to  again  become  a  candidate  for  the 
Senate.  My  reply  was  that  I  had  no  desire  to 
return  to  Washington ;  that  I  preferred  to  devote 
myself  to  private  business. 

But  friends  like  Governor  Morton;  Postmaster 
Cornelius  Van  Cott,  of  New  York;  Governor- 
elect  Black;  Lieutenant-Governor-elect  Woodruff; 
Chairman  Hackett,  of  the  Eepublican  State  Com- 
mittee, and  others,  kept  at  me,  and  I  finally  agreed 
that  I  would  permit  them  to  do  as  they  saw  fit. 

Toward  the  approach  of  the  date  for  the  Eepub- 
lican caucus,  my  opponents  began  to  hold  mass 
meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  principally 
in  Brooklyn  and  Buffalo.  They  praised  Choate 
and  abused  me.  Indeed,  there  was  no  crime,  it 
seemed,  with  which  I  was  not  charged,  and  no 
virtue  indicated  that  Choate  did  not  possess. 

GENEKAL    CATLIN    SMITES    MY   ASSAILANTS 

I  might  have  still  refused  to  be  a  candidate  but 
for  inexcusable  and  unwarranted  maledictions 

335 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

upon  me,  delivered  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Eichard  S. 
Storrs ;  former  Mayor  Charles  A.  Schieren ;  James 
McKeen;  Charles  Stewart  Smith,  and  others,  at  a 
Brooklyn  meeting;  and  Sherman  S.  Rogers  and 
others  at  a  Buffalo  gathering.  The  following  cor- 
respondence between  General  Isaac  S.  Catlin  and 
Dr.  Storrs  illustrates  the  venomous  onslaughts 
made  upon  me,  and  how  even  those  who  had  been 
opposed  to  me  in  factional  controversies  in  the 
party  resented  them : 

Brooklyn,  December  24,  1896. 
MY  DEAR  AND  REVEREND  SIR: 

I  understand  you  are  among  the  number  who 
have  been  invited  to  a  meeting  called  in  Brooklyn 
to  advocate  and  promote  the  interests  of  Joseph 
H.  Choate,  Esq.,  in  the  coming  canvass  for  U.  S. 
Senator.  I  am  happy  that  this  may  be  so;  for 
I  am  aware  of  your  early  relations  with  his  dis- 
tinguished uncle,  and  of  the  fact  that  you  enter- 
tain a  very  high  regard  and  admiration  for  the 
nephew,  in  which  I  join. 

I  also  happen  to  know  how  exalted  is  your  sense 
of  justice,  and  how  infinitely  above  entertaining 
feelings  of  malice  and  sentiments  of  personal  ani- 
mosity against  your  f ellowmen  you  are.  I  there- 
fore undertake  to  address  you  upon  a  subject  that 
lies  very  near  my  heart,  and  in  reference  to  a 
gentleman  who  has  been  mentioned  as  a  probable 
candidate  for  the  office  to  which  Mr.  Choate  very 
properly  aspires — Thomas  C.  Platt.  I  have  been 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

so  habitually  and  infamously  attacked  and  slan- 
dered from  time  to  time,  since  my  entrance  into 
public  life,  that  I  feel  profound  sympathy  with 
any  man  about  whose  character  and  capabilities 
the  public  are  ignorant  or  have  been  outrageously 
misinformed.  When  I  now  read  of  the  gross  and 
vulgar  charges  made  during  their  lives,  against 
so  many  of  the  men  of  -former  days,  who  are 
enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  millions  of  grateful 
people,  I  look  with  horror  and  indignation  upon 
the  same  line  of  charges  against  so  many  men  of 
the  present  day,  who,  after  they  have  ' l  shuffled  off 
this  mortal  coil,"  will  in  turn  be  undoubtedly  re- 
membered as  patriots,  philanthropists  or  benefac- 
tors. Well,  for  years  "the  depths  and  shoals  of 
calumny  have  been  sounded ;  hatred,  jealousy  and 
baffled  intrigue  have  mingled  their  gall  in  bitter 
cruelty,  and  press  and  demagogue  have  vied  with 
each  other"  in  attacking  the  character  and  repu- 
tation of  Mr.  Platt ;  and  I  continue  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  the  great  Conkling  and  say  he  "will  live 
in  grateful  memory  when  those  who  have  blasted 
his  reputation  have  moldered  in  forgotten 
graves. ' ' 

I  have  known  Mr.  Platt  from  boyhood.  I  have 
watched  his  course,  whether  in  Tioga  County, 
where  we  were  both  born,  or  in  the  larger  sphere 
of  action  in  Congress,  and  as  leader  of  his  party 
in  the  State;  and  though  I  have  usually  been  in 
factional  opposition  to  him,  I  undertake  to  say  his 
methods  and  conduct  in  public  affairs  have  been 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

on  the  whole  honorable,  upright  and  honest.  His 
progress  in  the  successful  management  of  politi- 
cal organizations  has  been  slow  but  sure ;  starting 
out  forty  years  ago  with  his  own  election  district 
in  the  village  of  Owego,  extending  to  the  political 
control  of  that  village,  then  of  the  county,  then  of 
the  Senatorial  and  Congressional  districts,  and 
finally  of  his  native  State,  where  he  stands  as  a 
conspicuous  figure  of  national  importance.  I  re- 
peat that  Thomas  C.  Platt  has  attained  his  present 
powerful  position  in  his  party  and  in  the  country 
by  steady,  cautious,  conservative,  persistent  en- 
deavor, and  by  the  use  of  fair  and  honorable 
methods. 

I  shall  recall  his  election  and  resignation  as 
U.  S.  Senator  and  the  defeat  of  his  candidacy  for 
reelection,  simply  to  state  that  while  at  that  time 
Mr.  Conkling  shared  with  him,  and  perhaps  was 
foremost  in,  the  leadership  of  the  Eepublican 
party  of  the  State,  yet  from  time  to  time,  from 
the  date  of  the  alleged  "crime"  as  charged  against 
him  by  Dr.  Parkhurst,  he  has  concededly  been  the 
chief  controlling  influence,  and  the  last  ten  years 
the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  great  Republican 
party  of  the  Empire  State. 

Is  it  probable  that  a  criminal  smirched  with  the 
stain  of  a  flagrant  moral  offense  could  have  at- 
tained such  eminence  in  public  affairs?  Which  is 
the  more  probable — that  he  was  guilty  of  the 
"crime"  alleged  by  his  personal  and  political  ene- 
mies and  by  habitual  slanderers,  or  that  the  in- 

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trigues  of  a  jealous  faction  seeking  to  destroy  him 
were  at  last  baffled  and  routed  entirely? 

But  taking  whichever  view  you  may  of  this 
fifteen-year-old  story,  does  the  statute  of  limita- 
tions never  run  against  a  moral  offense?  Can 
such  a  "crime"  never  be  expiated  and  forgiven! 
Must  a  man  in  public  life  be  met  with  a  given 
moral  shortcoming,  until  he-escapes  it  in  the  tomb? 

Mr.  Platt  is  the  head  of  large  business  interests, 
involving  in  turn  the  interests  of  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  other  people.  He  is  president  of  a 
national  bank,  of  a  very  large  express  company, 
and  of  one  or  more  railroad  companies,  and  sus- 
tains important  financial  relations  with  many 
other  institutions  as  well  as  with  many  in- 
dividuals. 

At  his  three-score-and-four  years,  with  his  im- 
portant and  far-reaching  financial  interests,  with 
his  acknowledged  primacy  in  the  Kepublican  party 
of  the  State,  who  but  one  afflicted  with  paresis,  or 
paralysis,  would  imagine  that  he  would  do  any 
act,  or  allow  any  act  to  be  done,  to  contravene 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  interests  of  the  people 
as  a  whole  ?  True,  he  is  a  practical  politician,  and 
he  believes  the  success  and  ascendancy  of  the  Ee- 
publican  party  are  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
city,  State  and  nation.  I  presume  that  Major 
McKinley  agrees  with  him  in  this  regard. 

And  Mr.  Platt,  I  presume  and  hope,  does  not 
neglect  his  own  interests  and  those  of  his  family. 
And  why  should  he  ?  Tell  me  any  successful  man 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  any  profession  and  occupation  in  life,  who  has 
neglected  his  own  interests,  and  then  hypercritical 
people  may  criticize  and  denounce  him  on  that 
ground.  But  one  thing  is  uncontradicted :  that  no 
single  penny  of  dishonest  money  ever  reached  his 
purse.  These  are  not  inconsistent  with,  and  in- 
imical to,  sentiments  of  patriotism  and  of  good 
government.  During  the  war  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union,  few  men,  who  did  not  actually 
enlist  in  the  ranks  of  the  Union  army,  can  boast 
of  a  more  patriotic  record  than  Mr.  Platt. 

I  raised  the  first  full  company  of  volunteers  in 
the  North,  on  the  evening  of  April  17,  1861,  at 
Owego,  N.  Y.,  and  afterward  helped  to  raise  other 
troops  in  Tioga  County.  And  I  always  had  the 
earnest,  zealous  and  generous  aid  and  cooperation 
of  Thomas  C.  Platt.  When  in  the  spring  of  1865, 
I  brought  my  regiment  to  Owego  to  say  farewell 
and  disband,  they  received  all  that  a  grateful  and 
generous  people  could  give  them  in  return  for 
their  services  and  sacrifices ;  and  Thomas  C.  Platt 
was  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  citizens  to  receive 
and  entertain  them. 

When  on  July  4,  1891,  the  patriotic  people  of 
Tioga  County  had  erected  and  prepared  to  unveil 
the  handsomest  monument  in  the  State  to  the 
honor  of  the  Tioga  County  soldiery,  Thomas  C. 
Platt  was  invited  to  act  as  president  of  the  day 
and  receive  that  splendid  "memorial  of  reverence 
and  love  to  the  brave  soldiers  who  fell  in  the  late 
war."  On  that  occasion  he  delivered  an  address, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

which  in  point  of  fine  diction  and  patriotic  senti- 
ment will  compare  favorably  with  any  of  the 
great  speeches  of  the  day  on  similar  occasions. 
I  take  pleasure  in  forwarding  herewith  a  little 
volume  containing  the  proceedings  of  that  pa- 
triotic day.  Is  there  anything  in  Mr.  Choate  's  pub- 
lic career  that  can  show  greater  interest  or  pa- 
triotism in  the  greatest  crisis  of  our  country's 
history,  than  this  and  these  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Platt?  Indeed,  is  there  anything  in  the  public 
career  of  Mr.  Choate  to  show  that  he  has  won  a 
spur  or  a  star  or  a  diploma  in  the  realm  of 
science  or  literature  or  statesmanship?  He  in- 
herited great  legal  ability,  and  he  has  exercised 
it  with  eminent  success ;  but  has  it  not  been  main- 
ly for  large  fees?  He  has  performed  oratorical 
functions  on  a  few  great  occasions,  but  I  have  yet 
to  see  or  read  one  that  was  in  a  large  sense  fin- 
ished or  great.  Set  him  and  Mr.  Platt  to  work 
on  a  practical  proposition  of  finance,  legislation 
or  statesmanship,  and  I  believe  he  would  not  be 
greatly  the  superior  of  the  two.  So  far  as  I  can 
understand,  Mr.  Platt *s  lineage  is  as  good  as  Mr. 
Choate 's ;  his  literary  pursuits  have  been  as  broad ; 
his  study  of  and  experience  in  large  and  important 
affairs  have  been  infinitely  more  extended;  and 
his  natural  gifts  and  intuitions  are  as  generous 
and  correct. 

Let  me  ask  you,  then,  in  what  you  may  do  for 
your  own  friend,  to  see  to  it  that  no  one  is  allowed 
to  unfairly  and  unjustly  and  indecently  attack  one 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

whose  only  ambition  now  is  to  serve  his  State 
and  his  fellowmen,  as  he  sees  the  right,  and  who 
wishes  at  no  distant  day  to  go  off  the  field  on 
horseback  in  a  manly  way,  and  not  be  driven  off 
by  those  who  would  like  to  see  him  walk  off,  cov- 
ered with  the  slime  of  scandal  and  disgrace. 
Respectfully  and  sincerely  yours, 

I.  S.  CATLIN. 
To  the  Eev.  Dr.  E.  S.  STORRS. 

DR.  STORES  CONFESSES  HIS  IGNORANCE 

After  over  two  weeks,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Storrs  re- 
plied to  General  Catlin's  letter  in  this  way: 

30  Pierrepont  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

January  7,  1897. 
DEAR  GENERAL  CATLIN: 

Yours  of  December  24th  came  to  me  when  I 
was  exceedingly  occupied  with  other  matters,  not 
to  be  put  aside  or  postponed.  And  my  reply  to 
it  has  been  thus  delayed.  I  have  read  it  with 
great  interest  and  thank  you  for  it.  I  have  never 
had  the  smallest  personal  knowledge  of  the  man 
of  whom  you  have  written,  have  never  assailed 
him  personally,  and  am  glad  to  know  that  he  has 
the  friendship  of  men  like  yourself.  But  I  regard 
the  relation  which  he  seems  plainly  to  hold  to 
the  Eepublican  party  in  the  State  as  evil  and  ir- 
rational in  itself,  and  fraught  with  vast  danger 
for  the  future.  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  resist- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ance  of  men  who  think  as  I  do,  to  his  election  as 
Senator,  will  have  special  weight  with  such  a  Leg- 
islature as  that  now  assembled  at  Albany.  But  I 
feel  bound  to  exert  whatever  influence  I  have,  pri- 
vate or  public,  for  the  election  of  one  whom  I  deem 
in  every  way  abler,  nobler,  more  worthy  of  the 
high  office,  and  certain  to  reflect  higher  honor  on 
the  State,  and  to  advance  more  surely  the  national 
welfare.  I  shall  deeply  regret  the  choice  of  the 
other,  and  shall  be  glad  to  have  done  whatever  I 
honorably  could  do  to  prevent  it. 

Accept  my  hearty  thanks  for  the  bound  pam- 
phlet containing  the  services  at  the  dedication  of 
the  "Soldiers'  Monument"  at  Owego.  I  have 
read  with  special  interest  your  eloquent  address, 
and  am  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  it. 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

R.  S.  STORES. 


"TO  THE  NATION'S  HEROES  AND  MARTYRS  " 

The  pamphlet  to  which  General  Catlin  and  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Storrs  both  refer  contained  the  details 
of  the  dedication  of  a  handsome  shaft  at  Owego, 
which  bore  the  script:  "To  her  heroes  who 
fought,  and  her  martyrs  who  fell,  that  the  nation 
might  live." 

General  Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  who,  as  well  as 
General  C'atlin,  achieved  distinction  during  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  delivered  an  address.  I  had 
the  honor  of  being  the  president  of  the  day.  The 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

speech  I  delivered  is  suggested  in  the  Catlin-Storrs 
correspondence.  I  have  been  asked  to  quote  ex- 
tracts from  it.  Here  are  some  of  them: 

We  are  here  to  testify  that  in  our  belief  the 
debt  we  owe  the  boys  who  wore  the  blue,  never  has 
been,  and  never  can  be,  entirely  paid  as  long  as 
one  of  them  remains  to  tell  the  story.  And  Tioga 
County  tells  to  all  the  land  to-day,  in  this  memorial 
which  she  rears  to  the  memory  of  her  sons,  that 
the  gratitude  which  she  felt  for  the  soldier  from 
1861  to  1865  is  just  as  keen  and  appreciative  now 
as  it  was  in  the  darkest  hours  of  danger.  And 
may  her  name  perish  and  be  forgotten  among  men, 
if  she  forgets  the  obligation  she  owes  to  the 
soldier,  living  or  dead. 

As  I  look  upon  the  soldiers  around  me  to-day, 
my  memory  is  carried  back  to  the  most  tremen- 
dous battle  of  the  war,  twenty-eight  years  ago, 
when  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  the  bravest  soldiers 
that  the  world  ever  saw  were  locked  in  the  embrace 
of  death.  All  the  previous  days,  the  struggle 
raged  from  Bound  Top  to  Gulp's  Hill;  and  over 
the  field  of  carnage  the  grass  was  red  with  the 
blood  of  the  slain.  The  morning  of  July  4th 
dawned,  and  the  fate  of  the  nation  was  trembling 
in  the  balance.  Scarcely  a  battle  of  modern  times 
has  furnished  such  a  record  of  carnage  and  dis- 
aster. No  foreign  foe  was  to  be  met,  but  on  either 
side  was  the  flower  of  the  Saxon  race.  The  fight 
was  renewed.  The  sun  sank  down  in  the  west 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

that  evening,  and  under  the  shadows  of  night  the 
grand  army  of  Lee,  all  shattered  and  torn,  reeled 
back  across  the  Potomac,  never  to  set  foot  on 
Northern  soil  again.  And  the  Eepublic  was 
saved ! 

It  is  our  happiness  to-day  to  know  that  among 
the  brave  soldiers  Tioga  sent  to  the  war,  there 
are  those  who  have  returned  to  us  crowned  with 
immortal  honor ;  men  who  have  been  tried  in  every 
station,  weighed  in  the  balance,  and  never  found 
wanting.  Happy  indeed  are  we  to  have  them  with 
us  to-day,  to  fill  the  hearts  of  our  old  men  with 
gladness  at  the  renewal  of  the  associations  of  the 
past,  and  to  inspire  the  hearts  of  our  young  men 
to  emulate  their  example,  and  to  teach  them,  if 
they  ever  hope  to  have  their  names  inscribed  upon 
the  golden  roll,  they  can  only  secure  that  honor 
by  standing  steadfastly  for  the  truth,  unfalter- 
ingly for  the  right,  and  proving  themselves  worthy 
of  the  grand  old  Tioga  County  stock  from  which 
they  sprang. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  give  an  ex- 
tended introduction  to  either  of  the  speakers  of 
the  day,  for  probably  there  is  not  a  man  in  Tioga 
County  as  well  known  as  General  Tracy.  All  the 
old  men  know  him;  all  the  old  ladies  reverence 
him,  and  all  the  young  ladies  are  proud  of  his 
acquaintance.  We  are  all  happy  to  have  him  with 
us  on  this  auspicious  occasion,  and  to  bid  him  a 
thousand  welcomes  to  his  old  home.  Yet  he  re- 
turns to  us,  not  as  an  old  shattered  wreck,  not 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

bowed  with  age  and  worn  with  toil,  but  as  full 
of  life  and  youthful  vigor  as  when  thirty  years 
ago  he  marched  at  the  head  of  our  brave  Tioga 
County  boys.  Yet  he  returns  to  us,  not  simply  as 
the  gallant  soldier,  the  loved  and  honored  citizen 
of  Tioga  County,  but  as  one  of  the  central  figures 
of  the  grandest  Eepublic  of  the  globe.  Faithful 
in  every  position  to  which  he  has  been  called, 
whether  as  attorney,  legislator,  soldier  or  judge, 
when  asked  for  further  service  he  might  well  have 
exclaimed:  "I  have  done  my  share." 

Yet  when  the  United  States  was  about  to  assume 
the  most  arduous  task  ijt  has  ever  undertaken 
since  the  foundation  of  the  Government,  the  crea- 
tion of  a  new  navy,  which  is  once  more  to  give  us 
the  supremacy  of  the  sea,  it  was  Tioga 's  honored 
son  that  she  called  to  her  aid.  And  if  God  spares 
his  life,  before  the  present  generation  has  passed 
away  we  will  once  more  behold  the  old  flag  float- 
ing on  every  sea,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting 
of  the  sun. 

Neither  will  it  be  necessary  to  introduce  to  a 
Tioga  County  audience  the  war-worn  veteran  who 
sits  beside  me,  General  Isaac  S.  Catlin.  How  our 
hearts  sank  within  us  when  the  news  flashed  over 
the  wires  that  our  friend  and  brother  had  fallen 
in  the  shock  of  the  battle,  and  was  cruelly  maimed, 
was  wavering  in  the  gates  of  death.  Thank  God, 
he  is  with  us  to-day  to  tell  us  how  the  Kepublic 
was  saved! 

It  now  becomes  my  pleasant  duty,  on  behalf 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  citizens  of  Tioga  County,  and  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisors  and  their  successors  who  are  to 
be  guardians  and  custodians  of  this  sacred  trust, 
to  receive  this  memorial  monument  from  your  com- 
mittee, and  consecrate  it  to  our  soldier  dead.  Your  ' 
committee  has  performed  its  work  nobly  and  well, 
and  you,  gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors, 
have  richly  earned  the  grateful  thanks  of  your 
fellow  citizens  for  the  admirable  manner  in  which 
you  have  executed  your  trust. 

Here  may  it  stand  for  ages,  no  less  a  monument 
to  the  brave  soldiers  who  died,  than  an  evidence 
of  the  patriotic  zeal  and  love  of  the  men  who 
raised  it.  Here  may  it  stand  for  all  time,  guarded 
by  filial  reverence  and  affection,  teaching  our 
young  men  to  stand  by  the  flag  and  to  live  and  to 
die  if  need  be  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
The  time  has  come  when  it  seems  eminently  proper 
we  should  cover  with  a  mantle  of  forgetfulness 
the  sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  the  past.  But  with 
the  broadest  exercise  of  Christian  charity,  let  us 
not  forget  in  the  contest  of  the  past  that  there 
was  a  wrong  side,  and  there  was  a  right  side,  and 
that  the  soldiers  whose  memory  this  shaft  is  to 
perpetuate  died  for  the  cause  of  the  right.  And 
so,  in  God's  name,  we  dedicate  this  monument  to 
the  right  and  to  the  Union  f orevermore. 

ONLY  SEVEN  VOTES  AGAINST  ME 

Out  of  the  Brooklyn  and  Buffalo  meetings  came 
the  formation  of  a  committee  to  defeat  me  for 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  Senate.  It  was  headed  by  William  D.  Guthrie, 
Paul  D.  Cravath,  Edward  Mitchell  and  William 
Brookfield,  of  the  New  York  Union  League  Club ; 
and  Senators  Frank  D.  Pavey,  of  New  York,  and 
George  W.  Brush,  of  Brooklyn.  They  established 
headquarters  at  Albany  early  in  January. 

My  career  was  raked  from  beginning  to  end. 
But  when  the  Republican  caucus  met,  Choate  got 
just  7  votes,  while  I  had  to  be  content  with  142. 

I  confess  that  one  of  the  keenest  disappoint- 
ments of  my  life  has  been  that  I  should  not  have 
had  a  unanimous  vote  in  the  Eepublican  caucus. 
For  a  long  time  I  could  not  conceal  my  mortifi- 
cation that  there  should  have  been  the  slightest 
opposition  to  my  reelection.  This  was  somewhat 
softened,  however,  when  the  Eepublicans  unani- 
mously supported  me  in  the  joint  Legislative  con- 
vention, against  David  B.  Hill,  who  got  only  31 
votes,  the  other  two  Democratic  votes  being  cast 
for  Henry  George. 

"AS  HILL  WALKED  OUT  I  WALKED  IN." 

It  afforded  me  the  supremest  satisfaction,  and 
not  a  little  amusement,  to  step  into  the  Senate  seat 
of  a  man  who  had  ousted  me  from  a  comparatively 
small  office,  merely  to  gratify  his  partisan  spleen. 
As  Hill  walked  out  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  I  walked 
in.  Hill  never  returned.  I  did. 

I  was  much  touched  when,  a  few  days  after 
my  second  election  to  the  Senate,  five  hundred 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

devoted  Eepublicans  made  me  their  guest  of  honor 
at  a  dinner  at  Albany.  I  expressed  my  apprecia- 
tion of  the  compliment  in  the  following  speech: 

MY  GRATITUDE  IN  SPEECH 

It  is  not  without  hesitation  that  I  have  again 
accepted  the  responsibilities  of  public  office.  In- 
deed, it  seemed  as  though  the  temptation  to  do 
so  had  been  put  by,  and  that  the  remainder  of 
my  life  would  have  no  other  relations  to  public 
affairs  than  such  as  become  every  citizen.  Nor 
could  the  situation  have  arisen  in  which  I  should 
have  sought  even  so  high  an  honor  as  the  one 
just  conferred.  I  shall  be  acquitted,  I  think,  of 
any  affectation  about  office-seeking  and  office-hold- 
ing, but  it  is  a  fact  that  I  have  not  been  a  can- 
didate for  the  Senate.  I  have  not  asked  any  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature  to  vote  for  me.  I  did  not 
even  intimate  until  after  the  caucus  that  I  should 
accept  the  office  if  it  were  tendered.  That  it  has 
come  under  these  circumstances,  and  with  such 
generous  expressions  of  good  will  and  confidence 
from  Eepublicans  throughout  the  State,  makes  it 
a  pleasing  burden  and  a  rich  compensation  for 
all  that  I  have  done  and  tried  to  do  in  my  party's 
service.  And  so  I  shall  go  to  Washington  grateful 
to  the  Eepublican  party,  devoted  to  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  earnest  in  the  resolution  to  exert 
whatever  influence  I  may  have  or  may  acquire 
for  the  welfare  of  our  incomparable  country. 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

It  is  especially  gratifying  to  reenter  the  Senate 
eoincidentally  with  the  inauguration  of  a  Republi- 
can President.  The  support  given  by  the  State 
of  New  York  to  Major  McKinley's  candidacy 
abundantly  testifies  to  the  high  hopes  which  our 
people  base  on  his  patriotic  wisdom.  The  success 
of  his  administration  will  be  the  success  of  the 
Eepublican  party,  and  no  contribution  that  I  can 
make  to  that  great  cause  will  be  wanting. 

Sufficient  time  has  passed  since  the  November 
election  to  permit  a  close  examination  of  its  re- 
sults. It  cannot  be  said  that  they  are  wholly  sat- 
isfactory. The  bewildering  program  of  legislation 
proposed  by  Mr.  Bryan  obtained  so  great  a  popu- 
lar support  as  to  forbid  the  idea  that  agitation  in 
its  favor  will  be  abandoned,  and  our  Democratic 
friends,  who,  without  giving  unqualified  adhesion 
to  Eepublican  principles,  were,  nevertheless,  con- 
strained by  their  convictions  on  the  money  ques- 
tion to  support  the  Eepublican  candidates,  should 
give  sober  consideration  to  this  fact.  It  is  not 
yet  certain  that  any  plan  for  the  relief  of  the 
Treasury  can  pass  the  Senate  as  it  will  be  consti- 
tuted after  the  fourth  of  March.  Capital  will  not 
invest,  production  will  not  increase,  labor  will 
not  be  adequately  employed  until  laws  are  passed 
to  insure  the  Treasury  against  insolvency,  and  to 
guarantee  to  the  business  interests  of  the  country 
a  safe  and  reasonably  permanent  basis  on  which 
to  operate.  If  the  changes  in  the  composition  of 
the  Senate  now  in  progress  fail  to  produce  a  ma- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

jority  that  can  hold  together  for  the  enactment  of 
such  legislation,  we  shall  have  the  same  fight  out 
of  which  we  have  just  come  to  make  again  four 
years  from  now,  under  probably  less  favorable 
conditions. 

The  lesson  which  this  possibly  teaches  to  the 
Sound  Money  Democrats,  and  the  duty  it  enforces 
upon  them,  seem  entirely  clear.  They  can  find 
no  home  in  the  Democratic  party.  Their  pres- 
ence there  is  not  wanted,  whereas  with  us  it  is 
held  in  just  esteem.  They  must  come  into  the 
Kepublican  party,  exert  their  due  influence  upon 
its  politics  and  accept  their  share  of  the  respon- 
sibility for  its  work.  And  without  abandoning 
any  vital  principles,  which  they  would  not  ask  or 
expect,  we  must  seek  in  all  we  do  to  hold  their 
confidence  and  support. 

People  do  not  agitate  themselves  over  theories 
of  finance  when  they  are  getting  along  comforta- 
bly. The  clamor  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver  be- 
came serious  only  when  an  ill-considered  tariff 
measure  threw  the  business  of  the  country  into 
confusion  and  left  the  Treasury  without  an  income 
sufficient  to  meet  its  inevitable  expenditures.  It 
was  then  that  capital  withdrew  from  investment. 
It  was  then  that  production  was  checked,  that 
wages  were  reduced,  that  profits  and  earnings 
fell  off,  that  labor  was  thrown  out  of  employment, 
and  that  the  people  began  to  lend  an  ear  to  the 
theorists  who  told  them  that  there  was  something 
the  matter  with  their  dollars.  It  was  not  in  human 

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nature  for  those  who  had  enacted  this  mistaken 
law  to  admit  it  to  be  the  origin  of  the  troubles 
which  at  once  came  upon  the  country,  and  they 
cast  about  for  other  causes.  One  of  these  they 
found  in  the  greenback,  and  they  fell  to  abusing 
that  useful  feature  of  the  currency  with  especial 
bitterness.  It  may  be  that  the  greenback  is  not 
an  ideal  form  in  which  to  express  a  public  debt, 
or  to  supply  the  people  with  a  substitute  for 
money,  and  it  certainly  is  true  that  no  substitute 
for  money  should  be  legal  tender.  But  it  was  not 
the  greenback  that  caused  the  demand  for  gold, 
nor  was  it  the  greenback  that  shut  down  mills  and 
reduced  the  opportunities  of  labor  and  the  earn- 
ings of  investment.  It  was  the  Wilson  Tariff  law 
which  did  these  things,  and  there  would  have  been 
just  as  much  gold  to  raise  and  just  as  much 
trouble  raising  it  had  the  burden  fallen  on  the 
banks  instead  of  on  the  Treasury,  and  even  then 
there  would  have  been  an  enormous  Treasury 
deficit.  The  trouble  came  with  the  revenue  law, 
and  the  remedy  is  to  be  provided  in  the  same  way. 
No  legislation  is  now  necessary  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  gold  standard,  and  when  we  have 
replenished  the  Treasury,  restored  the  public 
credit  and  set  the  country's  industries  again  on 
their  feet,  there  will  be  time  enough  to  look  after 
the  legal  tenders  and  to  revise  our  no  doubt  dis- 
ordered currency  system. 

There  can  be  no  pretense  that  the  American  peo- 
ple do  not  desire  to  return  to  the  protective  policy. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

They  gave  a  much  heavier  majority  in  1894 
against  the  Wilson  Bill  than  in  1896  against  all 
the  combined  vagaries  of  Bryanism.  The  question 
is  not  whether  they  can  adapt  themselves  to  a 
system  of  production  which  must  be  based  on  a 
lower  standard  of  wages  than  heretofore  pre- 
vailed. They  do  not  want  to  adapt  themselves  to 
such  a  system.  The  question  is  not  whether  rev- 
enues can  be  provided  sufficient  to  meet  the  Gov- 
ernment's necessities  by  patching  up  the  Wilson 
Bill  with  new  internal  taxes.  The  people  do  not 
want  the  Wilson  Bill  patched  up.  They  want  it 
repealed.  The  demand,  to  which  the  election  of 
two  successive  Eepublican  majorities  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  sufficiently  testifies,  is  for  the 
enactment  of  an  intelligent  and  consistent  tariff, 
based  in  every  schedule  upon  the  principle  of  pre- 
venting the  foreign  producer  of  goods  that  com- 
pete with  American  goods  from  wholesaling  his 
wares  in  the  American  market  at  prices  which 
compel  the  American  maker  of  such  wares  either 
to  go  out  of  business  or  to  reduce  the  wages  he 
pays  to  his  labor. 

If  there  is  no  other  respect  in  which  the  country 
is  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  result  of  Mr. 
Cleveland's  administration,  it  may  be  admitted 
that  since  the  present  Secretary  of  State  assumed 
the  direction  of  our  foreign  affairs,  the  position 
of  our  country  abroad  has  improved.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  again  that  the  consistent  upholding 
of  American  interests  in  foreign  lands  does  not 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

necessarily  involve  disagreeable  relations  with  for- 
eign governments,  and  that  the  just  influence  of 
our  country  can  be  preserved  without  offense  to 
our  neighbors.  I  have  had  no  fair  opportunity  to 
examine  the  text  of  the  arbitration  treaty,  or  to 
consider  the  possibilities  that  may  arise  under  its 
various  provisions,  but  with  the  principle  involved 
it  seems  as  though  all  civilized  men  must  be  sym- 
pathetic. A  war  with  England  would  be  unspeak- 
ably wrong,  and  it  ought  to  be  rendered  impossi- 
ble. [The  Venezuela  dispute  was  then  at  issue.] 
Indeed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  nothing  in 
our  situation  to  call  for  a  war  with  anybody.  The 
cause  of  liberty  is  always  noble.  It  always  de- 
serves to  succeed.  I  look  to  see  the  time  when  the 
people  of  every  American  country  will  govern 
themselves  without  theoretical  or  other  interfer- 
ence from  any  European  sovereignty,  and  the  at- 
titude of  our  people  is  bound  to  be  one  of  friendly 
interest  whenever  the  American  subjects  of  a  for- 
eign power  decide  that  the  time  has  come  for 
them  to  establish  a  free  and  independent  American 
State.  The  attitude  of  our  Government,  however, 
cannot  always  express  the  sympathies  of  our  peo- 
ple. It  has  its  treaties  to  observe  and  its  code 
of  public  law  to  respect.  Acts  of  intervention, 
moreover,  involve  responsibilities,  and  these  must 
be  assumed  with  caution.  We  neither  wish  to 
govern  Cuba  nor  to  fight  Spain,  and  no  act  of 
Government  should  be  performed  that  leads  us 
in  the  direction  of  either  of  these  enterprises. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

It  is  a  long  while,  Mr.  Chairman,  since  such  a 
celebration  as  this  was  possible.  It  is  a  long  while 
since  a  Republican  Governor  of  New  York,  a 
Republican  Lieutenant-Governor,  a  Republican 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  a  full  line  of  Republican 
State  offices,  a  Republican  United  States  Senator, 
and  so  great  a  body  of  Republican  officials  from 
the  counties  and  municipalities  of  the  State,  could 
assemble  at  a  public  banquet.  Four  years  ago 
the  thought  of  to-night's  festival  would  have 
seemed  absurd.  Let  us  take  care  that  for  years 
hence  it  shall  have  no  such  seeming.  Let  us  prove 
ourselves  competent  and  honest  and  truly  rep- 
resentative of  the  hopes  and  impulses  of  the 
people. 

It  was  my  duty  and  delight  to  support  the  Ding- 
ley  tariff  and  all  other  Republican  measures 
drawn  to  repeal  ruinous  Democratic  legislation 
enacting  during  the  Cleveland  administration.  I 
trust  that  Congress  will  never  wipe  out  the  car- 
dinal features  of  the  Dingley  act. 

MBS.  PLATT'S  VIEW  OF  POLITICS 

To  no  one  was  my  return  to  the  Senate  more 
pleasing  than  to  Mrs.  Platt.  She  had  the  year 
before  been  the  determinating  influence  in  caus- 
ing me  to  decline  a  nomination  for  Governor.  As 
I  have  observed,  the  solicitations  of  enemies  that 
I  run  for  that  office  were  quite  sufficient  to  induce 
me  to  abjure  it. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

My  wife  accompanied  me  to  the  national  capital, 
and  continued  to  be  my  companion  and  counselor. 

Once,  during  a  reception  to  the  wife  of  a  brother 
U.  S.  Senator,  in  Washington,  each  lady  was  asked 
to  tell  how  she  felt  about  the  prominence  that 
came  to  her  because  her  husband  happened  to  be 
elevated  to  high  office. 

When  it  came  Mrs.  Platt's  turn,  she  modestly 
testified:  "I  object  to  having  it  said  that  I  am 
'in  politics.'  I  frankly  confess  that  I  admire  Mr. 
Platt's  political  acumen,  and  often  offer  him  a 
few  suggestions.  But  I  never  take  politics  seri- 
ously. I  regard  it  rather  as  a  recreation  and 
amusement,  just  as  other  women  enjoy  embroid- 
ery, riding  or  driving.'* 

WHY   TEACY,    NOT   LOW,   WAS   NAMED   FOR   MAYOR 

I  have  never  made  a  defense  of  the  position  I 
assumed  in  1897,  at  the  organization  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  newly  created  Greater  City  of 
New  York,  in  respect  of  the  Mayoralty  nomina- 
tion, and  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
self-defense  in  politics  is  rarely  profitable.  It 
only  opens  the  door  to  new  forms  of  misrepresen- 
tation and  attack.  In  the  next  place,  the  time  has 
never  seemed  to  be  ripe  for  it,  and  I  don't  know 
that  it  is  ripe  yet.  But  the  events  of  1897  have 
their  place  in  these  recollections,  and  I  shall  try 
to  state  the  considerations  that  led  me  to  oppose 
the  Kepublican  organization's  surrender  to  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Citizens'  Union,  and  why  I  urged  my  friend,  Gen- 
eral Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  to  take  the  Republican 
nomination. 

I  had,  of  course,  the  same  respect  for  Dr.  Low's 
character  as  a  man  and  for  his  position  as  a  citi- 
zen that  every  one  else  had.  But  his  talents  as 
an  administrator  were  to  be  judged  only  by  his 
career  in  Brooklyn,  and  I  did  not  rate  them  high. 
Nor,  judging  from  our  experience  with  him  then, 
and  from  his  position  in  the  Blaine  campaign, 
and  from  the  free-tradish  remarks  that  had  been 
attributed  to  him  during  the  Cleveland  adminis- 
tration, would  I  have  thought  that  his  election  to 
be  Mayor  of  New  York,  even  as  a  Eepublican,  and 
by  votes  that  the  Eepublican  party  could  muster, 
would  be  of  distinct  party  advantage.  At  the 
same  time,  if  he  had  desired  to  take  the  field  as 
a  Republican,  with  thereafter  any  other  nomina- 
tions and  any  other  support  that  were  obtainable, 
I  should  have  put  nothing  in  the  way  of  it.  I 
caused  that  fact  to  be  conveyed  to  him,  or  at  least 
stated  it  to  many  of  his  friends  who  called  on 
me  in  the  interest  of  his  nomination. 

But  the  main  consideration  with  me  in  that,  as 
in  all  other  matters  during  the  whole  period  of  my 
activity  in  politics,  was  what  I  considered  to  be  the 
welfare  of  the  Republican  party,  which  I  have 
never  discriminated  from  the  welfare  of  the  State 
and  the  nation.  I  knew  that  Tammany  govern- 
ment was  pretty  bad  government,  but  I  did  not 
expect  to  see  the  millennium  come  with  Low  any 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

more  than  it  had  with  Strong,  or  any  of  the  well- 
meaning  gentlemen  who  have  started  in  at  one 
time  or  another  to  reform  New  York;  and  I  re- 
garded the  maintenance  of  a  condition  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  from  which  could  be  obtained  new  Eepub- 
lican  victories  in  the  State  as  more  important  than 
the  defeat  of  Tammany  under  conditions  which, 
to  my  mind,  would  be  sure  to  result  in  a  Eepub- 
lican  defeat  in  the  Gubernatorial  election  the  next 
year. 

CONTEMPT  FOB  LOW  NON-PAKTISANSHIP 

For  the  doctrine  of  non-partisanship  in  local 
elections  I  had  the  sincerest  and  the  profoundest 
contempt.  I  used  to  be  amused  at  the  that-settles- 
it  air  with  which  the  question  would  be  plumped 
at  me :  "  What  has  a  man's  views  of  the  tariff  to 
do  with  his  capacity  to  give  to  the  people  of  New 
York  City  an  honest  and  business-like  administra- 
tion?"— as  though  my  agreement  that  they  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that  matter  involved  a  con- 
cession to  the  principle  of  local  non-partisanship. 
It  has  everything  to  do  with  a  man's  ability  to 
administer  government,  anywhere  in  the  North  or 
West,  whether  the  influences  about  him  are  Ee- 
publican  or  Democratic ;  and  so  strong  is  the  pre- 
disposition of  the  American  people  in  favor  of 
a  party  as  a  political  agent,  and  so  strong  is  their 
prejudice  against  multiplicity  of  parties,  and  so 
similar  are  the  problems  of  administration,  no 
matter  what  the  political  division  to  which  they 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

relate,  that  it  is  idle  to  attempt  to  create  municipal 
parties  or  factions.  The  success  of  such  attempt 
would  have  a  demoralizing  effect  on  party  organi- 
zation. 

I  could  see  no  reason  why  a  party  which  with 
the  highest  success  was  conducting  a  national  gov- 
ernment, and  with  at  least  distinguished  success 
the  government  at  Albany,  should  be  dismayed  at 
any  problem  of  municipal  government,  and  al- 
though I  was  willing  to  recognize  the  fact  that  we 
were  a  minority  here  in  New  York  City,  sadly 
inferior  in  point  of  numbers,  by  making  all  reason- 
able concessions  to  that  sentiment  which,  sharing 
with  us  an  opposition  to  Tammany  Hall,  was  not 
otherwise  Eepublican,  I  was  not  willing  to  put 
the  Eepublican  organization  behind  a  man  who, 
in  advance,  repudiated  all  obligation  to  the  Eepub- 
lican  party.  I  did  not  want  to  see  the  Eepublican 
party  accept  responsibility  without  having  some 
voice  in  deciding  what  it  would  have  to  stand  for. 
I  did  not  want  to  see  Mr.  Low  go  into  the  great 
and  powerful  office  of  Mayor  of  Greater  New 
York,  with  the  work  of  consolidation  before  him, 
with  no  other  influences  about  him  than  those  of 
men,  some  of  whom  had  impressed  me  as  hum- 
bugs, some  as  cranks,  and  all  as  lacking  in  politi- 
cal experience,  and  as  generally  hostile  to  the  Ee- 
publican party,  and  as  sure  to  create  such  a  fric- 
tion between  the  city  administration  and  the  State 
Legislature  as  would  weaken  us  in  the  year  when 
we  had  a  Governor  to  elect,  a  political  off-year 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

when  we  could  least  afford  to  have  our  strength 
impaired. 

CITIZENS'  UNION  BULLIES 

Then,  again,  I  did  not  like  being  bullied,  and 
could  not  bring  myself  to  believe  that  a  great  and 
powerful  organization,  whose  cooperation  with  the 
other  anti-Tammany  elements  was  necessary  to 
success,  could  under  any  circumstances  afford  to 
let  itself  be  treated  in  the  arrogant,  offensive  and 
bullying  way  which,  from  the  very  start,  was 
adopted  by  the  Citizens'  Union  toward  their  nec- 
essary Eepublican  allies. 

The  Eepublican  organization  in  the  years  from 
1896  to  1900  was  larger,  stronger  and  more  com- 
petent than  it  ever  had  been  before  or  since.  It 
had  been  held  securely  by  Mr.  Lauterbach  against 
the  seductions  of  Mr.  Brookfield  and  the  Strong 
administration;  and  with  the  active  support  of 
President  McKinley  it  had  been  built  up  by  Mr. 
Quigg,  until  in  the  fall  of  1897,  if  an  independent 
organization  had  been  started  on  sincere  and  sensi- 
ble lines,  an  anti-Tammany  victory  was  well  with- 
in sight. 

I  am  bound  to  say,  at  the  risk  of  his  thinking 
it  a  compliment,  that  I  don't  suppose  I  understand 
a  man  like  Mr.  Fulton  Cutting.  Even  a  man 
who  is  engaged  in  a  great  and  noble  public  work, 
animated  by  the  purest  motives  and  with  no  wish 
or  thought  of  personal  advantage,  is  not  excused 
from  the  exercise  of  ordinary  common  sense,  nor  is 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

he  justified  in  the  view  that  he  is  the  only  person  in 
whose  brain  arises,  at  least  occasionally,  the  no- 
tion of  the  public  welfare. 

CUTTING  STOPPED  FUSION 

Under  Mr.  Fulton  Cutting's  leadership  the  Citi- 
zens '  Union  went  deliberately  at  work  to  make  the 
cooperation  of  the  Eepublican  party  in  the  election 
of  an  Rnf.i-TRTYiTnn.Tiy  man  absolutely  impossible, 
and  it  seemed  to  omit  no  single  thing  that  was 
calculated  to  bring  that  result.  That  it  repre- 
sented an  idea  which  has  strength — the  idea  of  a 
brave,  independent,  courageous  citizen  admin- 
istering a  great  public  office  without  fear  or  favor, 
may  be  admitted ;  but  when  the  success  of  this  idea 
depends  on  the  popular  vote,  it  should  not  be  pre- 
sented in  a  way  that  offends  the  sensibility  of 
every  one  in  whose  mind  there  is  a  doubt  whether 
the  fifteen  or  twenty  men  who  suddenly  spring 
up  and  proclaim  it  are  the  only  ones  in  a  popu- 
lation of  three  millions  who  believe  in  good  and 
worthy  government. 

LOW    LENT    HIMSELF    TO    AN    ABKOGANT    COTEEIE 

The  worst  of  it  was  that  Dr.  Low  weakly  put 
himself  right  under  the  wing  of  this  arrogant  and 
offensive  coterie.  He  excused  himself,  or  his 
friends  excused  him,  by  saying  that  if  he  didn't 
they  would  drop  him  and  take  up  somebody  else. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

That  may  have  been  so,  and  if  it  had  been  offered 
to  wham  public  service  is  only  a  public  duty,  en- 
to  excuse  an  ambitious,  self-seeking  politician,  one 
could  understand  it;  but  offered  to  excuse  a  man 
tered  with  always  the  greatest  reluctance  and  only 
because  it  is  thrust  upon  him  by  the  overwhelm- 
ing demand  of  his  fellow  citizens,  it  seems  a  trifle 
mystifying. 

M'KINLEY  AGAINST  LOW'S  NOMINATION 

Even  as  late  in  the  campaign  as  within  a  week 
before  the  Eepublican  convention,  and  after  the 
Citizens'  Union  had  called  their  self-appointed 
selves  together  and  had  nominated  Dr.  Low  on 
their  take-him-or-leave-him  platform,  we  tried  to 
save  him  and  the  situation.  Mr.  Quigg — I  won't 
say  with  my  approval,  but  without  my  objection — 
had  a  talk  with  Elihu  Eoot,  in  which  he  told  Mr. 
Boot,  for  such  purpose  as  Mr.  Eoot  might  think  it 
proper  to  put  it  to,  that  if  Dr.  Low,  before  accept- 
ing the  Citizens'  Union  nomination,  would  wait 
until  the  Eepublican  convention  had  met,  and 
would  then  accept  both  nominations,  preferably 
in  identical  terms,  we  would  do  the  best  we  could 
to  bring  his  nomination  about.  Nothing  came  of 
this  communication,  however,  and  neither  I  nor 
any  of  my  advisers  could  see  any  other  course  to 
pursue  than  the  one  that  was  finally  taken.  The 
matter  was  discussed  with  the  Eepublican  leaders, 
not  only  in  New  York  City,  but  throughout  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

State.  At  my  suggestion  Mr.  Quigg  went  to  Lake 
Champlain,  where  President  McKinley  was  stop- 
ping, and  in  the  course  of  an  interview  that  lasted 
two  hours  went  over  every  phase  of  the  matter 
with  him.  I  had  many  conferences  with  Mr.  Bliss, 
then  in  the  President's  cabinet,  and  with  party 
leaders  in  other  States  whose  judgment  I  had 
learned  to  respect,  and  from  the  President  down 
the  opinion  of  every  Eepublican  who  had  any 
party  responsibility  was  that  under  the  circum- 
stances we  could  not  afford  to  nominate  Dr.  Low. 

LOW  A  l  ( THOKN  IN  THE  FLESH ' ' 

The  final  consideration  with  me  was  this — that 
no  man  can  get  away  from  his  environment;  that 
the  auspices  under  which  a  man  takes  office,  the 
conditions  of  his  nomination,  are  bound  to  control 
his  conduct  in  office,  and  that  Mr.  Low,  brought 
forward  by  the  Citizens'  Union  in  the  extraordi- 
nary way  in  which  they  got  him  before  the  pub- 
lic and  into  actual  nomination,  must,  if  elected, 
have  been  a  constant  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  the  Ee- 
publican organization  in  both  city  and  State.  And 
yet,  by  nominating  him  ourselves,  we  should  have 
been  responsible  for  him  and  for  the  unpopular 
government  which,  with  his  Citizens'  Union  sup- 
port, he  would  have  been  sure  to  provide.  I  fore- 
saw conflicts  with  the  Legislature,  and  the  news- 
papers grinding  out  columns  in  every  issue  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  Eepublican  party  throughout  the 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

State  because  the  Legislature  was  failing  to  re- 
spond to  the  Citizens'  Union  idea  of  municipal 
laws.  I  judged  what  his  ideas  of  municipal  laws 
would  be  by  what  his  idea  was  of  the  way  to  organ- 
ize a  city  government.  I  thought  at  the  best  we 
would  have  a  hard  time  to  elect  a  Eepublican  Gov- 
ernor in  1898.  Already  the  canal  appropriations 
were  giving  us  trouble;  the  frictions  between 
Governor  Black  and  some  of  the  State  leaders  were 
a  source  of  anxiety;  and  I  knew  that  if  Senator 
Murphy  and  Mr.  Croker  yielded  to  the  more  astute 
leadership  of  ex-Governor  Hill  (which,  luckily, 
they  didn't),  we  should  have  on  our  hands  the  fight 
of  our  lives,  with  nothing  to  depend  on  except  the 
popularity  of  President  McKinley  and  the  issues 
of  the  Spanish  War. 

Of  course  it  will  be  asked,  and  I  can  hear  the 
tone  of  mild  rebuke:  "Had  the  interests  of  the 
city  of  New  York  no  weight  in  the  consideration 
of  those  who  thus  assumed  responsibility  for  a 
new  period  of  Tammany  government ! ' '  Yes,  they 
had;  but,  as  I  understand  it,  New  York  City  is 
still  a  part  of  New  York  State,  and  just  as  much 
interested  in  a  continuance  of  the  wise  and  suc- 
cessful administration  of  State  affairs  as  any 
other  part  of  the  State. 

An  anti-Tammany  victory  in  New  York,  more- 
over, is  a  chance  victory,  and  has  never  resulted 
in  the  real  and  permanent  betterment  of  things 
for  that  reason.  The  Democratic  majority  in  New 
York  City  is  so  large,  so  stolid,  made  up  of  ele- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ments  so  difficult  to  reach  and  to  convince,  that 
an  occasional  victory  on  the  part  of  Bepublican 
and  other  forces  has  been  found  to  accomplish 
little.  The  importance  of  even  that  little  I  admit, 
and  I  can  easily  see  that  if  a  Bepublican  Mayor 
could  be  elected  as  a  Bepublican,  and  could  have  a 
strong,  united  party  behind  him,  so  that  in  the 
course  of  a  four  years'  administration  he  could 
build  up  the  party  and  its  organization,  and  thus 
bring  about  his  own  reelection  or  the  election  of 
another  who  would  continue  his  good  administra- 
tion, it  would  be  possible  in  the  course  of  time 
thoroughly  to  reorganize  and  reform  the  local 
departments. 

NO   POLITICAL,   HYBBIDS   TO   BE    TOLERATED 

But,  elected  as  a  political  hybrid,  with  the  well- 
to-do,  easy-going,  thoughtless  aristocrats,  organ- 
ized in  some  independent  guise,  pulling  in  one  di- 
rection, with  such  bodies  as  the  City  Club  pulling 
in  another,  with  the  Bepublican  organization  pull- 
ing in  still  another,  and  such  fag-ends  as  the 
Jimmy  O'Briens,  the  Stecklers  and  the  Sheehans, 
with  their  demands  and  distractions  to  plague  and 
pursue  him ;  selected  for  his  social  position  or  his 
standing  as  a  banker  or  a  merchant,  with  little 
or  no  experience  of  public  administration — no  man 
alive  could  justify  the  expectations  that  secured 
for  him  the  office  of  Mayor  of  New  York  City,  and 
the  prompt  return  of  Tammany  to  its  own  is  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

foregone  conclusion  from  the  day  he  takes  office. 
The  history  of  Dr.  Low's  administration  when, 
with  the  Eepublican  party  cordially  supporting 
him,  he  did  manage  to  get  the  place,  is  only  one 
of  the  several  proofs  that  have  been  afforded  of 
the  truth  of  this  statement.  I  know  of  nothing 
that  occurred  during  the  Low  administration 
which  should  change  the  opinion  I  had  con- 
cerning him  in  1897.  He  came  and  went,  and 
New  York  City  is  still  the  same  old  town,  with 
the  same  old  social  and  political  problems,  the 
same  old  grafters,  the  same  body  of  office-holders, 
the  same  burden  of  debt  and  the  same  ratio  of 
increase  in  its  appropriations  that  it  had  when 
we  were  told  that  Mr.  Low's  election  meant  its 
emancipation  from  them  all. 

MY  COURSE  VINDICATED 

So  I  guess  I  was  right  in  1897,  and  when  the 
election  returns  came  in  on  the  night  of  November 
8,  1898,  and  when,  after  waiting  till  nearly  mid- 
night before  the  issue  was  certain,  I  saw  that 
Theodore  Eoosevelt,  fresh  from  San  Juan  Hill, 
with  the  stains  of  Spanish  blood  dark  on  his 
rough-rider  uniform,  had  squeezed  through  by  the 
narrow  majority  of  17,000  in  a  total  poll  of  more 
than  a  million  and  a  quarter  votes,  I  breathed  a 
sigh  of  relief  to  think  that  I  had  not  taken  the 
responsibility  of  loading  him  down  with  the 
Citizens'  Union. 

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CHAPTER  XVHI 

1898-1900 

Why  I  selected  Roosevelt  for  Governor — His  em- 
barrassing threat  to  withdraw,  and  how  at 
the  crucial  moment  I  prevented  it — The  Hero 
of  San  Juan  was  not  "a  coward" — Brief  re- 
view of  the  Roosevelt  State  administration. 


<*• 


STARCHLESS"  civil  service,  which  put  practic- 
ally every  Democratic  office-holder  out  and  in- 
stalled a  Eepublican  organization  man  in  his  job; 
the  appointment  of  Louis  F.  Payn  as  Superintend- 
ent of  Insurance,  and  other  ultra-partisan  acts  of 
the  Black  administration,  while  they  popularized 
it  with  the  organization  workers,  aroused  rebellion 
among  the  Independents.  Black,  offering  no  apolo- 
gies for  running  a  simon-pure  party  regime, 
planned  a  renomination  and  secretly  nursed  a 
hope  that  he  would  land  the  Presidency. 

The  initial  movement  toward  curbing  the  Black 
methods  for  surbordinating  the  State  government 
to  the  interests  of  the  regular  troops,  developed 
when  the  so-called  Independents,  led  by  the  Union 
League  Club,  put  forward  Joseph  H.  Choate 
against  me  as  a  candidate  for  U.  S.  Senator.  In- 
dependent threats  caused  me  to  do  a  heap  of 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

thinking.  Cognizant  of  the  revolts  which  sent 
Judge  Folger  to  a  political  grave,  deprived  Elaine 
of  the  Presidency  and  placed  the  National  and 
State  governments  in  the  custody  of  the  Demo- 
crats for  eight  and  ten  years  respectively,  I  began 
to  formulate  plans  for  holding  our  enemies  in 
leash.  At  a  period  when  few  believed  but  that 
Black  would  be  named  for  a  second  term — and 
ithis  was  in  April  of  1898 — I  was  asked  if  there 
was  the  slightest  doubt  about  the  renomination  of 
the  Governor. 

"Yes,  there  is,"  was  my  response.  "McKinley 
and  Congress  are  liable  to  declare  war  on  Spain 
at  any  moment.  That  war  may  develop  a  hero. 
Popular  sentiment  may  force  the  nomination  of 
that  hero  for  Governor  of  New  York.  Theodore 
Eoosevelt  has  just  resigned  as  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  is  drilling  his  Eough  Eiders  in 
the  "West.  General  Francis  V.  Greene  and  Colonel 
Frederick  D.  Grant  have  volunteered  their  serv- 
ices. Any  one  of  them  might  come  out  of  the  war 
adorned  with  such  laurels  as  to  compel  his  nomi- 
nation. " 

While  division  was  acute  among  the  New  York 
leaders  as  to  who  should  be  the  candidate  for 
Governor,  Eoosevelt,  covered  with  military  glory, 
came  back  from  Cuba.  I  sent  Lemuel  Ely  Quigg 
to  Montauk  Point,  where  the  colonel  was  camped 
with  his  spectacular  troop.  I  requested  Mr.  Quigg 
to  sound  the  colonel  about  running  for  Governor. 
Mr.  Quigg  found  the  colonel  more  than  pleased 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

with  the  suggestion.     When  Quigg  plumped  at 

Eoosevelt  the  question:    "Would  you  accept  the 

Republican  nomination  for  Governor?"  there  was 

no  hesitation  in  the  answer. 

Like  cracks  from  a  rifle,  the  gallant  colonel 

came  back  with : 

"Would  I?    I  would  be  delighted !" 

"Then   count  upon   Senator   Platt's    support. 

Come  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  and  see  him," 

was  Quigg 's  reply. 

COLONEL  EOOSEVELT  DID  COME  TO  ME 

Eoosevelt  came  to  the  Fifth  Avenue.  We  had  a 
long  talk.  We  buried  past  differences.  He  agreed 
to  head  the  Eepublican  State  ticket,  if  nominated, 
and  consult  with  me  and  other  party  leaders  about 
appointments  and  legislation  in  case  he  were 
elected.  When  Colonel  Eoosevelt  parted  from  me 
he  was  my  choice  for  Governor.  I  set  to  work 
to  nominate  and  elect  him. 

The  perplexing  and  all  but  fatal  incidents  which 
happened  prior  to  the  assembling  of  the  State 
convention  at  Saratoga  in  September,  were  de- 
scribed by  me  recently  in  a  magazine  article.  I 
quote  from  it: 

NOMINATION    FOE   GOVEENOB 

"During  the  fall  of  1898,  the  candidacy  of  Theo- 
dore Eoosevelt  for  the  Governorship  of  New  York 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  projected.  It  will  be  remembered  that  while 
the  candidacy  was  in  process  of  development,  the 
opponents  of  his  nomination  became  apprised  of 
the  fact  that  during  a  previous  year,  when  Mr. 
Eoosevelt  was  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
he  had  sworn  off  his  taxes  in  New  York  on  the 
theory  that  he  was  a  resident  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  therefore  was  ineligible  for  the 
Governorship  of  New  York  State. 

"Presuming  that  the  opponents  of  his  nomina- 
tion would  use  this  fact  in  the  approaching  State 
convention,  to  his  detriment,  I  called  a  meeting  of 
my  friends  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  to  consider 
methods  of  meeting  the  expected  attack  upon  in- 
eligibility.  Elihu  Eoot,  who  recently  succeeded  me 
in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  was  one  of  those  present  at 
the  meeting.  So  was  Mr.  Eoosevelt. 


"While  this  meeting  was  being  held  a  committee 
representing  the  opposition  to  Mr.  Eoosevelt, 
headed  by  Edward  Lauterbach,  called  at  my  rooms 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue.  Mr.  Lauterbach,  Louis  F. 
Payn  and  others  were  in  the  party,  and  they  were 
all  earnest  advocates  of  the  renomination  of  Gov- 
ernor Black.  I  left  the  assemblage  of  my  friends 
and  went  to  meet  this  committee.  They  had  with 
them  Mr.  Eoosevelt 's  affidavit  of  his  non-residence 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  which  they  asked  me  to 
read  and  explain  how  in  the  face  of  such  a  declara- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tion  it  would  be  possible  to  proceed  with  the  plans 
for  his  Gubernatorial  nomination. 

Lacking  any  other  expedient,  I  informed  them 
that  if  they  were  possessed  of  all  the  facts,  they 
would  view  the  matter  differently,  and  that  later 
I  hoped  to  apprise  them  of  such  facts.  I  then  re- 
joined my  friends  in  another  room  and  reported 
to  them  what  Mr.  Lauterbach  and  his  associates 
had  presented  for  my  consideration. 

At  this  juncture,  Mr.  Eoosevelt  took  me  aside 
and  said,  with  a  trepidation  I  had  never  before 
and  have  never  since  seen  him  display:  "I  can- 
not remain  in  this  fight;  I  must  withdraw  from 
the  race." 

His  desire  to  withdraw  was  made  apparent  to 
every  one  in  the  room.  The  fatal  effect  of  his 
withdrawal  was  to  me  so  manifest,  that  I  replied : 
"You  must  not  withdraw.  You  must  trust  to 
me  to  solve  the  problem  and  elect  you  Governor 
of  the  State." 

In  order  to  emphasize  my  determination  and 
to  restore  his  courage,  I  said  with  brutal  frank- 
ness: "Is  the  hero  of  San  Juan  a  coward?" 

He  replied  with  his  customary  vehemence :  '  '  No, 
I  am  not  a  coward." 

We  then  resumed  the  discussion  of  methods  of 
procedure,  and,  at  my  suggestion,  Mr.  Eoot  went 
to  Massachusetts,  where  Joseph  H.  Choate  was 
sojourning,  in  order  to  obtain  his  views  in  the 
premises.  The  meeting  then  disbanded,  and  was 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

resumed  at  Saratoga  some  days  later,  where  the 
Republican  State  Convention  was  assembling. 

CHOATE  SAYS  THE  CASE  IS  HOPELESS 

At  this  second  meeting,  there  were  present  Mr. 
Boot,  Mr.  Depew,  Frank  Hiscock,  Judge  George 
W.  Bay,  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  and  others. 
Mr.  Boot  reported  to  me  that  Mr.  Choate  had 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  case  was  hopeless, 
and  added  for  himself  that  he  had  grave  doubts 
of  the  possibility  of  making  a  successful  conten- 
tion in  Mr.  Boosevelt's  favor.  He  said  that  Mr. 
Choate  expressed  the  further  opinion  that  the  only 
hope  of  success  lay  in  forcing  the  nomination 
through  the  convention  by  sheer  weight  of 
numbers. 

I  asked  him  if  he  had  mentioned  the  matter  to 
any  one  else,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  had  not 
done  so.  I  asked  him  to  refrain  from  doing  so; 
told  him  that  the  plan  to  nominate  Mr.  Boose- 
velt  must  be  carried  through  at  all  hazards,  and 
he  must  appear  before  the  convention  and  make 
the  argument  in  favor  of  Mr.  Boosevelt's  nomi- 
nation. 

The  gentlemen  then  addressed  themselves  to 
the  task  of  formulating  arguments  that  could  be 
presented  to  the  convention  in  support  of  Mr. 
Boosevelt's  nomination.  Judge  Bay  probably  ad- 
duced the  principal  arguments  upon  which  the 
following  day  Mr.  Boot  made  his  famous  speech 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  support  of  Mr.  Eoosevelt 's  candidacy  and  eligi- 
bility. This  task  Mr.  Eoot  performed  so  exceed- 
ingly well  that  the  opposition  to  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Eoosevelt  was  effectually  quelled.  And 
so  effective  were  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Eoot  that 
the  Democrats,  in  the  campaign  which  followed, 
never  so  much  as  broached  the  subject  of  Mr. 
Eoosevelt's  ineligibility.' 

EOOSEVELT'S  DEAMATIC  CAMPAIGN 

Eoosevelt  made  a  dramatic  campaign.  He  fair- 
ly pranced  about  the  State.  He  called  a  spade 
a  " spade,"  a  crook  a  " crook."  During  the 
final  week  of  the  canvass  he  made  the  issue  Eich- 
ard  Croker,  the  Tammany  boss,  who  had  been  so 
excoriated  by  the  Lexow  and  Mazet  committees. 
The  Eough  Eider  romped  home  on  election  day 
with  over  17,000  plurality. 

I  have  always  maintained  that  no  man  besides 
Eoosevelt  could  have  accomplished  that  feat  in 
1898. 

The  Legislature  being  Eepublican  in  both 
branches,  it  was  easy  to  supplant  Democratic 
U.  S.  Senator  Edward  Murphy,  Jr.,  whose  term 
expired  March  4,  1899.  Governor  Eoosevelt, 
Lieutenant-Governor  Woodruff,  State  Chairman 
Odell  and  myself,  united  in  the  selection  of 
Chauncey  M.  Depew.  He  was  chosen  to  Murphy's 
seat  early  in  January,  1899,  securing  the  solid  vote 
of  his  party  associates,  and  finally  the  united  sup- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

port  of  the  legislators  without  regard  to  political 
proclivities.  Depew  joined  me  at  Washington, 
March  4.  Then  for  the  first  time  in  a  decade  was 
New  York  represented  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  by  two 
Eepublicans. 

LOU.   PAYN   THROWN   OUT 

Upon  his  inauguration,  Governor  Roosevelt 
started  in  whirlwind  fashion  to  clean  house  at 
Albany.  He  threw  Superintendent  of  Insurance 
Louis  F.  Payn  out  of  his  job  so  quickly  as  to 
send  that  official  to  me  with  a  cry :  l *  I  warned  you 
that  this  fellow  would  soon  have  you  dangling  at 
his  chariot  wheel.  You  would  not  believe  me.  He 
has  begun  by  scalping  members  of  your  'Old 
Guard.'  He'll  get  you,  too,  soon." 

I  agreed  to  the  appointment  of  Francis  Hen- 
dricks  as  Superintendent  of  Insurance,  and 
though  Seth  Low  recommended  Colonel  John  N. 
Partridge  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Works, 
offered  no  serious  objection  to  the  elevation  of 
that  man.  Roosevelt  had  from  the  first  agreed 
that  he  would  consult  me  on  all  questions  of  ap- 
pointments, Legislature  or  party  policy.  He  re- 
ligiously fulfilled  this  pledge,  although  he  fre- 
quently did  just  what  he  pleased.  In  consulting 
me,  Roosevelt  proved  himself  the  antithesis  of 
Garfield,  who,  as  I  have  said,  repudiated  every 
contract  ever  made  with  me.  I  have  ever  pre- 
ferred that  a  man  should  tell  me  frankly  face  to 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

face  that  he  will  or  will  not  do  a  thing,  than  to 
promise  to  do  it  and  then  refuse  to  do  it.  Boose- 
velt  told  me,  for  instance,  that  he  proposed  to 
remove  Lou.  Payn.  I  protested,  but  he  was  re- 
moved, and  I  was  consulted  about  the  appointment 
of  his  successor. 

The  great  dispute  between  Eoosevelt  and  my- 
self came,  however,  when  the  Governor  announced 
that  corporations  must  pay  a  franchise  tax,  and 
had  bills  drawn  providing  for  this.  Chairman 
Odell,  of  the  State  Committee,  and  organization 
leaders  generally,  hoisted  the  signal  of  rebellion. 
Eoosevelt  clinched  his  fist  and  gritted  his  teeth, 
and  drove  through  the  legislature  the  franchise 
tax  law,  which,  though  supposed  to  be  in  opera- 
tion for  the  past  ten  years,  is  still  being  fought  by 
public  utilities  corporations  in  the  courts. 

Eight  upon  the  heels  of  the  enactment  of  this 
legislation,  Eoosevelt  made  it  known  that  he  would 
be  a  candidate  for  renomination.  I  determined 
that  he  should  be  the  candidate  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  that  Odell,  who  had  all  but  been  named 
in  1896,  when  there  was  a  sudden  shift  to  Black, 
should  head  the  State  ticket.  How  my  plans  were 
consummated  will  be  related  in  another  chapter. 
Meantime,  I  digress  to  observe  that  one  of  the 
most  important  controversies  of  the  Congres- 
sional session  of  1899,  was  that  dealing  with  the 
question  of  retaining  under  our  flag  the  Philippine 
Islands  or  granting  their  immediate  independence. 
Being  entirely  irresponsible  for  the  administration 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  Government,  Bryan  and  other  Democratic 
leaders  kept  up  an  incessant  howl  about  abandon- 
ing the  Filipinos  after  we  had  freed  them  from 
the  Spanish  yoke.  I  joined  with  President  McKin- 
ley  and  the  Eepublicans  in  insisting  that  Ameri- 
can sovereignty  be  maintained  until  the  "little 
brown  men"  had  shown  capacity  for  self-govern- 
ment. 

My  views  were  reflected  in  a  speech  delivered 
by  me  January  27,  1899,  in  opposition  to  a  reso- 
lution declaring  that,  under  the  (U.  S.)  Constitu- 
tion, no  power  is  given  to  the  Federal  Government 
to  acquire  territory  to  be  held  and  governed  per- 
manently as  colonies. 

I  said : 


MB.  PRESIDENT  :  I  suppose  I  may  be  permitted 
to  enjoy  the  same  latitude  of  discussion  and  the 
same  liberty  of  expression  which  have  distin- 
guished the  remarks  of  other  Senators  during 
this  debate.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  talk  to  the 
resolution  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri  without 
saying  something  concerning  the  treaty  which  is 
being  considered  in  executive  session.  Indeed, 
the  resolution  may  almost  be  looked  upon  as  an 
amendment  to  the  treaty.  If  the  resolution  were 
to  pass  and  the  treaty  were  then  to  be  ratified,  the 
resolution  would  be  nothing  less  than  a  definition 
of  what  the  treaty  must  be  understood  to  mean. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  ColUer  Plait 

And  in  voting  against  the  resolution,  which  will 
be  my  course  when  the  occasion  arrives,  I  desire 
to  be  understood  as  voting  against  any  limitation 
upon  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 

There  has  never  been  absent  from  the  floor  of 
the  Senate  that  class  of  intellect  which  has  found 
in  the  Constitution  its  warrant  for  opposing  new 
things.  It  has  always  Been  a  superior  class  of 
intellect,  without  doubt  earnest  and  sincere, 
but  not  always  to  be  appreciated  by  or- 
dinary minds  that  believe  in  finding  a  prac- 
tical solution  for  practical  questions  as  they 
arise  one  after  another  in  the  course  of  na- 
tional experience,  and  that  starts  out  in  its  con- 
sideration of  all  public  questions  with  the  assump- 
tion that  the  founders  of  our  Government  did  not 
intend  it  to  be  anything  less  than  a  competent 
government.  Nor  is  it  new  things  only  which 
are  so  resolutely  opposed  in  the  name  of  the 
fathers.  It  is  old  things,  with  new  faces,  as  well. 
Here  we  have  been  for  a  whole  century  annexing 
territory — annexing  with  a  club  or  with  a  caress, 
just  as  the  necessities  demanded — and  yet  Sena- 
tors are  discovering  to  one  another  the  most  acute 
distress  over  what  they  boldly  describe  as  a  "  de- 
parture from  time-honored  traditions." 

Mr.  President,  it  was  not  the  main  purpose  of 
the  makers  of  the  Constitution  to  point  out  a  way 
in  accordance  with  which  the  problems  of  govern- 
ment were  to  be  solved.  That  purpose,  no  doubt, 
was  in  their  minds  to  some  extent,  but  to  an  ex- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tent  which  must  have  had  its  boundaries  defined 
in  their  own  experience,  and  even  then  they  al- 
lowed it  to  appear  in  the  Constitution  with  re- 
luctance and  obvious  misgiving.  Their  main  pur- 
pose was  to  devise  a  plan  of  government,  and  not 
to  ordain  policies;  and  where  they  seemed  to  be 
ordaining  policies,  where  they  departed  from  the 
main  work  of  establishing  the  bodies  which  to- 
gether should  form  the  Government,  and  of  dis- 
tributing to  each  its  particular  functions,  they 
were  doing  precisely  what  every  other  legislative 
assembly  before  their  time  and  subsequently  there- 
to has  had  to  do — they  were  satisfying  popular 
prejudices  and  looking  forward  to  the  day  when 
their  work  would  be  passed  upon  by  minds  less 
trained  than  their  own  in  the  consideration  of 
great  principles  and  more  subject  than  theirs  to 
temporary  and  local  prejudice. 

I  do  not  mean  to  suggest,  Mr.  President,  that 
such  legislation  as  does  occur  in  the  Constitution 
is  any  less  binding  upon  us  because  it  was  put 
there  as  a  concession  to  the  sentiment  of  the  law, 
but  I  do  affirm  without  hesitation  that  the  infer- 
ences which  we  draw  now  from  such  legislation, 
limiting  the  power  of  the  General  Government  and 
tending  to  render  our  Government  less  competent 
than  other  governments,  need  to  be  drawn  care- 
fully and  need  to  be  considered  in  the  light  of  the 
whole  scheme  of  Federal  authority.  It  is  true 
that  we  are  a  Government  of  limited  powers,  but 
the  purpose  of  the  limitation  was  simply  to  re- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

serve  to  the  people  of  the  States  such  ample  power 
as  would  enable  them  to  determine  their  own  af- 
fairs in  their  own  way — such  affairs,  I  mean,  as 
were  not  also  the  affairs  of  the  people  of  other 
States;  and  it  was  not  the  purpose  of  such  limi- 
tation to  hinder  the  Federal  Government  in  pro- 
viding as  might  seem  best  and  wisest  for  the 
general  welfare  of  the  whole  country. 

It  is  surprising,  Mr.  President,  how  often  it 
has  been  necessary  to  make  this  argument  and  to 
call  attention  to  these  distinctions,  and  yet  I  sup- 
pose the  temptation  is  a  natural  one  to  make  the 
phrase  "a  government  of  limited  powers"  mean 
a  government  empowered  to  do  whatever  each 
man  wants  done,  but  forbidden  to  do  whatever 
each  man  opposes.  That  thought  must  have  oc- 
curred, it  seems  to  me,  to  every  Senator  who  heard 
the  proposition  advanced  here  that  we  had  the 
right  under  the  Constitution  to  annex  territory 
for  the  purpose  of  putting  up  guns  to  kill  people 
with,  but  lacked  the  right  of  annexing  it  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  up  schoolhouses  and  of  doing 
the  things  that  contribute  to  the  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  the  people  concerned. 

The  disorder  now  existing  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  to  which  Senators  who  are  opposing  the 
treaty  may  well  afford  to  consider  how  far  they 
are  contributing,  the  unwillingness  of  the  armed 
natives  to  accept  American  authority,  does  not 
constitute,  in  my  mind,  the  slightest  ground  on 
which  to  base  a  vote  against  the  Paris  agreement. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

On  the  contrary,  it  affords  a  new  reason  why  our 
action  should  be  the  more  prompt  and  unanimous. 
No  Senator  has  had  the  hardihood  to  suggest  that 
we  shall  now  return  these  islands  to  the  Spanish 
Government,  and  no  other  disposition  of  them  than 
that  is  inconsistent  with  a  vote  to  confirm  the 
treaty.  Imputations  have  been  made  here  upon 
the  purposes  of  those  who  advocate  the  assump- 
tion by  the  United  States  of  Philippine  sover- 
eignty which  can  scarcely  be  genuine. 

All  this  talk  about  forcing  our  Government  upon 
an  unwilling  people,  all  this  eloquent  invocation 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
is  far  and  away  from  any  real  point  that  con- 
cerns the  Senate  in  this  discussion.  No  Senator 
can  suppose  that  there  exists  an  American  states- 
man who  approaches  the  consideration  of  the 
Philippine  problem  with  any  other  than  the  most 
benevolent  intentions  concerning  the  Filipinos 
and  their  future.  There  are  reasons  why  the  na- 
tives of  these  islands,  after  their  experience  with 
Spanish  misrule,  should  misunderstand  the  pres- 
ence at  Manila  of  an  American  army,  but  there  is 
no  reason  why  an  American  Senator  should  mis- 
understand it,  and  no  justification  of  his  course 
in  misrepresenting  it.  He  knows  that  there  is  no 
American  in  all  this  broad  land  who  wishes  any 
other  fate  to  any  single  native  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  than  his  free  enjoyment  of  a  prosperous 
life. 

He  knows  that  close  in  the  wake  of  American 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

rule  there  would  come  to  the  Filipinos  a  liberty 
that  they  have  never  known  and  a  far  greater 
liberty  than  they  could  ever  have  under  the  ar- 
rogant rule  of  a  native  dictator.  He  knows,  more- 
over, that  it  would  be  self-rule,  the  rule  of  the 
islanders  to  the  full  extent  of  their  capacity  in 
that  direction,  and  that  each  successive  American 
President  would  welcome  the  time  when  he  could 
recommend  new  leases  of  self-government  to  an 
advancing  and  improving  people.  The  Filipinos 
may  not  know  these  things  yet,  but  every  Ameri- 
can Senator  knows  them,  and  puts  himself  and  his 
country  in  a  false  position  when,  by  attributing 
the  spirit  of  conquest  and  aggression  to  those 
whose  policy  has  rescued  the  Filipinos  from  Spain 
and  would  now  rescue  them  from  native  tyrants, 
he  encourages  them  to  doubt  the  generous  senti- 
ment of  our  people. 

1  do  not  say  that  these  considerations  are  ab- 
solutely conclusive  of  our  right  and  duty  to  as- 
sume the  direct  and  exclusive  government  of  the 
Philippines,  for  we  have  our  own  interests  to 
think  about,  but  certainly  they  forbid  the  use  on 
this  floor  of  any  argument  which  tends  to  im- 
peril the  safety  of  our  troops  at  Manila  or  which 
adds  one  whit  to  the  embarrassment  of  the  ad- 
ministration in  the  trying  situation  by  which  it 
is  confronted. 

Mr.  President,  I  do  not  know,  and  I  do  not  think 
any  one  else  can  know,  just  what  ought  to  be 
done  with  the  Philippine  Islands,  beyond  this — 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  we  ought,  as  instantly  as  possible,  to  com- 
plete the  withdrawal  of  their  sovereignty  from  the 
Kingdom  of  Spain,  and  that  we  ought  onrselves 
to  assume  its  obligations  and  prudently  to  dis- 
charge them  until  we  have  had  full  opportunity 
in  our  own  councils  to  determine  their  best  dispo- 
sition. This  is  all  that  the  treaty  of  Paris  pro- 
poses or  imposes.  It  is  all  that  the  administration 
has  at  any  time  suggested.  It  is  no  more  than 
a  safe  and  conservative  policy  advises.  It  is  no 
less  than  our  public  obligations  require.  It  is 
a  plain,  clear,  positive  duty.  It  is  one  of  those 
duties  that  are  not  to  be  got  rid  of  by  evasion, 
nor  even  by  denial.  It  would  remain  after  you 
had  rejected  the  treaty.  It  lies  in  the  nature  of 
the  situation.  Your  army,  your  navy,  and  your 
flag  are  at  Manila.  You  can  add  to  their  dangers 
if  you  will.  But  their  duty  abides,  and  the  will 
of  the  nation  must  be  done. 


382 


CHAPTEE  XIX 

1900-1901 

My  motives  in  making  Roosevelt  Vice-President 
— How  a  "pinch"  made  him  President — 
"Kicked  up/'  not  "down  stairs" — Murder  of 
McKinley,  the  "best  beloved  President" — 
My  method  of  dealing  with  anarchist  assas- 
sins— How  Roosevelt  fulfilled  the  oath  taken 
at  McKinley 's  bier. 

I  MIGHT  be  accused  of  telling  tales  out  of  school 
should  I  divulge  the  details  of  the  campaign  en- 
tirely; but  I  will  say  that  as  the  time  approached 
for  holding  the  Republican  National  Convention 
at  Philadelphia,  in  1900,  it  became  apparent  that 
the  administration  forces,  headed  by  Senator 
Hanna,  would  oppose  the  nomination  of  Theodore 
Eoosevelt  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  I  believed 
that  the  death  of  Vice-President  Hobart  had  weak- 
ened the  Eepublican  party,  and  that  some  strong, 
popular  personality  should  be  added  to  the  ticket 
to  be  nominated  in  1900 ;  and  I  firmly  believed  that 
the  virile  personality  of  Mr.  Eoosevelt,  supported 
by  his  war  record  in  Cuba  and  by  his  administra- 
tive record  as  Governor  of  New  York,  would  add 
great  strength  to  the  national  ticket  that  year. 

383 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Frederick  S.  Gibbs  was  the  member  of  the  Na- 
tional Committee  from  New  York  State.  He  also 
was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and 
in  that  capacity  went  to  Philadelphia  a  week  or 
two  in  advance  of  the  gathering  of  the  convention, 
where  the  National  Committee  was  to  give  hear- 
ings to  contesting  delegations.  I  think  it  was  a 
week  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  National  Conven- 
tion that  Mr.  Gibbs  called  on  the  telephone  one 
of  my  friends  in  New  York,  and  asked  him  to  tell 
me  that  the  great  majority  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee, headed  by  Senator  Hanna,  was  shaping 
things  to  bring  about  the  nomination  of  Cornelius 
N.  Bliss  for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Gibbs  evidently 
had  the  impression  that  this  could  be  brought 
about,  and  as  he  knew  my  firm  belief  that  Roose- 
velt should  be  a  candidate,  he  thought  it  wise  to 
let  me  know  about  it.  The  word  that  he  brought 
was  that  I  ought  to  get  in  touch  with  members 
of  the  National  Committee,  then  in  Philadelphia, 
with  a  view  to  heading  off  this  sentiment,  which 
was  developing  as  the  hearing  of  the  contests  pro- 
ceeded. I  was  so  confident  of  what  would  be  the 
outcome  of  the  convention,  that  I  replied  to  the 
one  who  brought  Mr.  Gibbs '  message  that  I  would 
not  take  the  trouble  to  call  him  or  any  other  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Committee  on  the  telephone, 
because  he  was  unduly  exercised,  and  nothing  was 
more  certain  in  my  mind  than  that  Mr.  Eoosevelt 
would  be  the  Vice-Presidential  candidate. 


385 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


I  BREAK  A  BIB  AS  BATTLE  BEGINS 

I  went  to  Philadelphia  on  the  Saturday  follow- 
ing, firmly  imbued  with  this  belief  and  resolved 
to  exert  myself  to  the  utmost  to  accomplish  such 
a  result.  My  resources  were  somewhat  reduced 
by  the  fact  that  on  the  afternoon  upon  which  I 
left  for  Philadelphia,  an  accident  had  resulted  in 
my  breaking  a  rib.  Notwithstanding  this  disa- 
bility, I  took  the  train  for  Philadelphia,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Eoosevelt,  Mr.  Depew  and  Mr. 
Odell.  Upon  reaching  Philadelphia  I  was  prompt- 
ly interviewed  by  the  late  Senator  Quay,  who  be- 
lieved as  I  did  that  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Eoosevelt  for  Vice-President  of  the  United  States 
was  a  party  necessity.  We  agreed  to  combine 
our  forces  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end; 
but  since  we  were  greatly  outnumbered  by  the 
administration  forces,  some  strategical  operations 
were  deemed  advisable  in  order  to  demoralize 
and,  if  possible,  disorganize  the  administration 
opposition  to  our  plan.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Quay 
let  it  become  known  that  he  intended,  upon  the 
assembling  of  the  convention,  to  offer  a  resolution 
reducing  the  representation  in  convention  of  cer- 
tain Southern  States  upon  the  basis  of  the  voting 
population.  A  large  measure  of  the  strength  of 
the  opposition  lay  in  the  South,  and  the  proposi- 
tion of  Senator  Quay  created  great  consternation 
in  the  administration  forces. 

While  they  were  engaged  in  efforts  to  combat 
386 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

such  diminution  of  their  strength,  we  were  busily 
concentrating  the  votes  of  the  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  delegations  and  such  other  delega- 
tions as  were  uncommitted  upon  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency. Senator  Quay's  task  was  easier  than  mine, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Pennsylvania  delegation 
was  a  practical  unit  upon  the  proposition,  while 
that  of  New  York  was  divided — first,  by  the  un- 
alterable opposition  of  Mr.  Eoosevelt  himself  to 
his  nomination,  and  second,  by  the  aggressive  can- 
didacy of  Timothy  L.  Woodruff,  of  Brooklyn. 

BOOSEVELT  TELLS  PAPEKS  HE  WILL  NOT  BUN 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  elaborate  the  inci- 
dents of  the  first  few  days  of  the  canvass,  because 
they  were  overshadowed  by  two  or  three  occur- 
rences of  the  greatest  significance  and  importance, 
which  followed  in  close  succession  during  the  few 
hours  immediately  preceding  the  meeting  of  the 
convention.  The  Eoosevelt  sentiment  was  gradu- 
ally developing  strength,  and  Mr.  Quay  and  I  were 
becoming  greatly  encouraged,  when,  on  the  after- 
noon before  the  convention  met,  General  Francis 
V.  Greene,  a  close  friend  of  Mr.  Eoosevelt,  and 
himself  a  passive  candidate  for  the  nomination, 
came  to  my  room  for  the  purpose  of  dissuading 
me  from  further  effort  in  Mr.  Eoosevelt 's  behalf. 
I  resisted  his  arguments  until  he  startled  me  by 
saying  that  Mr.  Eoosevelt  had  a  few  moments  pre- 
viously given  to  the  newspapers  an  interview,  in 

387 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

which  he  stated  positively  that  he  would  not  ac- 
cept the  nomination — that  his  closest  and  most 
valued  friends  had  advised  against  his  being  a 
candidate,  and  he  had  definitely  made  up  his  mind 
not  to  be. 

At  this  juncture,  Senator  Penrose,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, accompanied  by  John  P.  Elkin,  of  that 
State,  entered  my  room  and  announced  that  the 
Pennsylvania  delegation  had  just  caucused  and 
had  voted  with  practical  unanimity  to  support  Mr. 
Roosevelt  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  I  pointed  to 
General  Greene  and  said: 

"This  gentleman,  who  is  a  close  friend  of  Gov- 
ernor Eoosevelt,  has  just  informed  me  that  the 
Governor  has  given  to  the  newspapers  a  statement 
to  the  effect  that  he  will  not  accept  a  Vice-Presi- 
dential nomination." 

Senator  Penrose  said :  '  *  He  had  better  go  back 
to  the  Governor  and  tell  him  it  is  high  time  he 
learned  who  his  real  friends  are." 

That  night  the  New  York  delegation  held  its 
caucus.  I  was  unable  to  attend,  owing  to  my 
injury. 

HANNA  CAPITULATES;  ROOSEVELT  STILL  PROTESTS 

While  the  caucus  was  taking  place,  I  sent  my 
secretary  to  Senator  Hanna,  asking  him  to  visit 
me  in  my  parlor.  Senator  Hanna  responded  to 
the  call,  and  we  two  alone  discussed  the  situation. 
At  first.  Senator  Hanna  obdurately  opposed  my 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

efforts  to  convince  him  of  the  party  necessity  of 
nominating  Mr.  Roosevelt;  but  finally  I  won  him 
over  to  my  idea,  and  he  left  my  room  promising 
to  issue  that  night  a  public  statement  that,  in  his 
judgment,  Mr.  Eoosevelt  should  be  the  candidate 
of  the  convention.  This  promise  he  faithfully 
kept,  and  from  that  moment  the  nomination  was 
assured. 

Meantime,  Governor  Roosevelt  was  in  his  rooms 
protesting  to  everybody  that  he  would,  if  nomi- 
nated for  Vice-President,  arise  in  the  convention 
and  unequivocally  decline.  I  heard  of  this,  and 
asked  my  son  Frank  to  go  in  to  him  and  say  that 
he  would  be  nominated ;  that  he  could  not  stop  that, 
and  I  wanted  his  promise  that  if  he  were  made 
MeKinley's  associate  he  would  run. 

Roosevelt  and  my  son  soon  came  to  my  rooms. 
The  Governor  was  in  a  state  of  rare  excitement, 
even  for  him. 


"YOU  CANNOT  BE  BBNOMINATED,  GOVERNOR" 

"I  shall  go  into  the  New  York  caucus  and  tell 
the  delegates  that  I  shall,  if  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  arise  in  the  convention  and  decline. 
I  can  serve  you,  Senator  Platt,  far  better  as  Gov- 
ernor than  as  Vice-President,"  said  Roosevelt 
pugnaciously. 

"But  you  cannot  be  renominated  for  Governor; 
and  you  are  going  to  be  nominated  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent," was  my  retort. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

"I  cannot  be  renominated?"  queried  Eoosevelt. 

"No;  your  successor  is  in  this  room?"  said  I, 
pointing  to  Chairman  Odell. 

"Now  I  want  your  promise,  that  if  you  are  in- 
dorsed by  the  New  York  caucus,  you  will  not  re- 
fuse, and  that,  if  you  are  nominated  by  the  con- 
vention, you  will  run,"  I  added. 

Eoosevelt  showed  his  teeth,  paced  up  and  down 
the  room,  and  chafed  as  a  horse  does  under  a  tight 
rein  and  curbed  bit. 

"Well,  Senator  Platt,"  finally  returned  Eoose- 
velt  reluctantly,  "I  will  pledge  myself  not  to  for- 
mally decline  the  New  York  caucus  indorsement, 
but  I  shall  certainly  urge  the  caucus  to  name  an- 
other," he  added. 

"And  remember  I  shall  pinch  you  if  I  see  any 
signs  of  your  getting  up  and  declining,"  put  in 
my  son. 

"PINCH  AS  HAKD  AS  YOU  LIKE" 

"All  right,  you  may  pinch  me  as  hard  as  you 
like,"  answered  Eoosevelt,  as  he  and  Frank  hur- 
ried to  the  caucus  of  the  New  York  delegation, 
then  in  progress  on  the  main  floor  of  the  Hotel 
Walton. 

The  session  was  a  long  and  rather  heated  one. 
Some  of  the  delegates  used  very  plain  English  to 
Governor  Eoosevelt.  One  of  the  most  forceful 
speeches  was  made  by  Edward  Lauterbach.  Eis- 
ing  and  advancing  to  the  front  row  of  delegates, 
where  Mr.  Eoosevelt  was  seated,  Mr.  Lauterbach, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

emphasizing  his  remarks  by  gestures  almost  in 
Mr.  Boosevelt's  face,  said  to  him:  "Your  very 
presence  at  this  convention  as  a  delegate-at-large 
is  an  allurement  to  the  convention  to  nominate 
you.  You  come  here,  and  moving  among  the  dele- 
gates, associating  with  your  old  friends  from  the 
West,  and  for  that  matter  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, with  the  glamor  of  the  Spanish  War  resting 
on  you,  you  tempt  the  delegates  to  support  you 
and  make  you  the  candidate,  regardless  of  what 
you  may  say  as  to  your  wishes  in  the  matter." 

While  he  was  speaking,  many  will  remember 
the  elevator  in  the  Walton  Hotel  suddenly  fell 
with  a  loud  crash.  This  interrupted  the  speech 
and  caused  confusion  for  a  few  minutes.  As  soon 
as  order  was  restored,  Mr.  Lauterbach  relieved 
the  tension  by  the  jocose  remark:  "I  brought 
down  the  house,  anyhow." 

Senator  Depew  was  presiding,  and  at  length  Mr. 
Eoosevelt  arose  and  addressed  him.  He  reiterated 
in  most  emphatic  terms  his  statement  that  he 
was  not  a  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  and 
his  associates  from  New  York  must  respect  his 
wishes,  and  neither  work  among  the  delegates  to 
bring  about  his  nomination,  nor  present  his  name 
to  the  convention  for  that  office. 

THE  PINCH  THAT  MADE  A  PKESIDENT 

Just  as  Dr.  Albert  Shaw,  Frederick  W.  Holls, 
Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  and  others  of  Eoosevelt 's 

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self-constituted  friends,  clustered  about  him  and 
whispered  audibly:  "Say  you'll  decline  if  nomi- 
nated, Governor,"  my  son  pinched  Roosevelt  in 
the  leg  and  said:  "Remember  your  contract  with 
the  Senator,  Governor. " 

Roosevelt  kept  faith.  He  ignored  the  solicita- 
tions of  Shaw  and  the  others  and  sat  down.  In 
other  words,  a  "pinch"  may  be  said  to  have  made 
Roosevelt  President,  for  had  he  executed  the 
threat  of  declining  and  it  had  been  accepted,  he 
would  never  have  reached  the  White  House.  For- 
mer Senator  Elon  R.  Brown,  of  Jefferson;  Judge 
Leslie  W.  Russell,  of  St.  Lawrence;  Congressman 
George  E.  Waldo,  of  Brooklyn;  and  ex-Senator 
George  B.  Sloan,  of  Oswego,  were  among  those 
who  spoke.  Senator  Brown  and  Mr.  Sloan  and 
Mr.  Russell,  in  dignified  and  forceful  language, 
said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt's  wishes  ought  to  be  re- 
spected and  the  Vice-Presidency  should  not  be 
forced  upon  him  against  his  expressed  desire. 
Several  of  the  speakers  favored  the  candidacy  of 
Timothy  L.  Woodruff.  The  discussion  lasted  for 
about  two  hours.  At  length  a  motion  was  made 
and  carried  without  dissenting  voice  that  the  dele- 
gation support  Lieutenant-Governor  Timothy  L. 
Woodruff  as  New  York's  candidate  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  and  the  meeting  adjourned  with  that 
as  its  only  action. 


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KOOSEVELT    CONCLUDES    TO    ACCEPT 

About  the  same  time  that  the  announcement  of 
New  York's  action  was  made  to  the  delegates  scat- 
tered throughout  the  hotel  corridors  and  in  the 
small  rooms  upstairs,  came  the  statement  from 
Senator  Hanna  that,  in  his  opinion,  Mr.  Eoose- 
velt  should  be  the  candidate  for  Vice-President, 
and  that  he  would  work  to  his  utmost  to  bring 
about  his  nomination.  The  events  of  the  next  day 
showed  that  Mr.  Hanna  had  accurately  gaged  the 
situation.  Mr.  Woodruff  withdrew  his  name  from 
the  consideration  of  the  New  York  delegates,  when 
it  became  known  that  Mr.  Eoosevelt  would  accept. 

Of  course,  the  usual  spectacular  effects  of  a 
convention  crowd  were  employed  in  developing, 
drawing  out  and  crystallizing  what  was  actually 
to  be  the  result  of  the  convention.  One  of  these 
incidents  was  the  appearance  of  the  entire  dele- 
gation from  Kansas — profusely  decorated  with 
badges — at  Governor  Eoosevelt 's  headquarters. 
Summoning  the  newspaper  men,  in  their  presence 
it  was  announced  to  him:  "Whatever  might  be 
your  wishes,  ambition  or  final  decision,  this  dele- 
gation proposes  to  vote  for  you  at  all  hazards. 
Nothing  that  you  could  say  would  stop  us  from 
using  all  our  efforts  in  your  behalf,  both  in  pre- 
liminaries, in  the  corridors  and  on  the  floor  of 
the  convention."  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Eoosevelt  caused  it  to  be  known  that  he  would 
yield  as  gracefully  as  possible,  if  the  convention 

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took  "the  bit  in  its  teeth "  and  insisted  upon  nomi- 
nating Mm.  Such  a  demonstration  was  merely 
an  incident,  however.  The  nomination  of  Mr. 
Eoosevelt  was  as  certain  as  fate  when  Senator 
Hanna  made  it  known  to  myself  and  to  Senator 
Quay  that  he  would  join  his  forces  with  ours. 

"PLATT    DID    IT" CLARKSON 

General  Clarkson  bears  witness  again:  "In 
1900,  he  (Platt)  saw,  as  only  a  few  others  did,  that 
the  ticket  would  need  for  certain  success  an  in- 
fusion of  blood,  enthusiasm  and  dashing  courage, 
of  the  man  of  the  new  generation.  He  had  also 
known  since  a  certain  day  on  San  Juan  Hill  who 
was  the  man.  So  he  set  his  will  to  the  purpose 
of  putting  Eoosevelt  on  the  ticket;  and  it  was  his 
great  personality,  joined  to  that  of  Quay's,  that 
dominated  the  convention  into  acquiescence,  and 
persuaded  Eoosevelt  himself  into  acceptance.  The 
campaign  and  all  the  results  since  proved  his 
wisdom  in  seeing  in  time  that  the  new  generation, 
already  up  in  the  saddle,  should  begin  to  have 
its  way;  and  taking  the  responsibility  of  leader- 
ship in  the  vast  new  questions  then  so  seriously 
opening  up  before  the  Eepublic.  The  critics  said 
he  was  up  to  mischief — a  marplot ;  the  cynics,  that 
he  was  seeking  revenge  in  forcing  Eoosevelt  on 
the  ticket.  Time  has  already  proved  that  instead 
he  was  faithfully  naming  and  presenting  the  leader 
of  the  new  generation." 

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The  wisdom  of  my  insistence  that  Eoosevelt 
should  be  McKinley's  running  mate  was  vindi- 
cated at  the  polls.  The  McKinley-Eoosevelt  team 
simply  ran  away  from  Bryan  and  his  mate,  and 
New  York  State  was  kept  in  the  Eepublican 
column. 

NO  SHELVING  INTENDED 

President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  of  Columbia 
University;  Albert  Shaw,  of  the  Review  of  Re- 
vieivs;  Frederick  "W.  Holls,  and  others  who  pre- 
tended to  be  Governor  Eoosevelt -'s  friends  at 
Philadelphia,  were  most  persistent  in  trying  to 
poison  the  Governor's  mind  with  insinuations  that 
my  sole  object  in  naming  him  for  Vice-President 
was  to  politically  "shelve"  him. 

I  ignored  this  twaddle  at  the  time,  and  I  have 
no  recollection  of  referring  to  it  publicly  before. 
I  came  across  the  answer  in  an  editorial  written 
by  my  friend,  Charles  H.  Betts,  of  the  Lyons  Re- 
publican, November  22,  1900.  I  take  pleasure  in 
reproducing  it : 

KOOSEVELT   IN   THE    CAMPAIGN 

When  Governor  Eoosevelt  accepted  the  nomina- 
tion for  Vice-President,  many  of  his  friends  were 
displeased  and  disappointed,  and  it  was  openly 
stated  that  his  nomination  for  that  office  was  sim- 
ply a  wicked  scheme  to  "shelve  Eoosevelt."  This 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

view,  however,  was  presented,  for  the  most  part, 
by  the  unthinking  and  superficial,  who  were  actu- 
ated more  by  mugwump  malice  than  by  reason. 
This  view  was  also  presented  by  those  who  had  a 
very  limited  and  a  very  false  idea  of  the  real 
Theodore  Eoosevelt.  When  any  one  talks  about 
shelving  Roosevelt,  they  simply  expose  their  ig- 
norance of  the  man.  To  be  sure,  there  have  been 
but  few  Vice-Presidents  who  ever  went  higher 
after  occupying  that  office.  But  that  indicates 
nothing,  for  the  simple  reason  that  no  Eoosevelts 
have  ever  before  been  nominated  to  that  office. 

No  candidate  for  Vice-President  in  the  whole 
history  of  this  Eepublic  ever  made  such  a  canvass 
in  a  national  campaign  as  did  Eoosevelt  in  the 
campaign  that  has  recently  closed.  The  reason 
is  simple.  No  Theodore  Eoosevelt  was  ever  be- 
fore  nominated.  When  before  has  any  Vice-Presi- 
dential candidate  ever  become  the  central  figure, 
the  leading  general,  the  field  marshal  of  a  national 
political  campaign?  Those  who  thought  that  Eoose- 
velt made  a  mistake  in  accepting  the  nomination 
for  Vice-President  will  do  well  to  remember  that 
in  the  campaign  just  closed  Governor  Eoosevelt 
has  increased  his  prestige,  power  and  popularity 
one  hundred  fold.  Early  in  the  campaign  he  be- 
came the  national  Eepublican  leader  who  on  every 
occasion  was  pitted  against  Bryan  and  who  van- 
quished the  Democratic  Presidential  candidate  off 
every  field.  He  answered  all  of  Bryan's  questions. 
Bryan  could  answer  none  of  his.  Besides  all  this, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Roosevelt  broke  all  records  as  a  campaigner.  He 
traveled  more  miles,  visited  more  States,  spoke 
in  more  towns,  made  more  speeches  and  addressed 
a  larger  number  of  people  than  any  man  who  ever 
went  on  the  American  stump.  He  beat  Bryan  all 
through  the  campaign,  and  he  beat  him  on  elec- 
tion day.  What  more  could  he  have  done  if  he 
had  been  the  candidate  for  President?  Is  it  not 
plain  that  the  man  makes  the  office,  not  the  office 
the  man?  Is  it  not  plain  that  the  candidate  for 
Vice-President  did  not  make  Eoosevelt,  but  that 
Eoosevelt  made  the  candidate  for  Vice-President 
the  leading  and  central  figure  in  one  of  the  most 
important  and  remarkable  campaigns  since  the 
foundation  of  the  Republic?  And  in  this  connec- 
tion, we  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Senator  Platt  was  Roosevelt 's  best  friend.  Time 
has  proven  this,  and  it  has  also  vindicated  Senator 
Platt 's  judgment  and  made  his  critics  and  ene- 
mies, who  impugned  his  motives,  look  mean  and 
small  indeed. 

I  may  add  that  instead  of  "shelving"  Roose- 
velt, I  must  plead  guilty  to  the  charge  of  "kick- 
ing him  upstairs. "  I  believe  Roosevelt  himself 
would  convict  me  of  this. 

RELATIONS  WITH  M  *KINLEY 

My  relations  with  President  McKinley  were, 
almost  from  the  beginning  of  his  first  administra- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

tion,  cordial.  He  never  held  it  against  me  that  I 
had  honestly  opposed  his  nomination,  through  the 
sincere  conviction  that  Governor  Morton  would  be 
more  acceptable  to  New  York  and  the  East,  and 
that  I  regarded  him  (McKinley)  as  wabbly  on 
finance.  He  committed  no  such  errors  as  did  Gar- 
field  in  refusing  to  accept  the  recommendations 
of  the  Empire  State  organization  for  Federal 
places  in  New  York.  Invariably  when  an  office 
was  to  be  filled,  he  requested  that  I,  as  chief  of 
the  organization  and  U.  S.  Senator,  submit  our 
choice.  And  that  choice  was,  except  in  rare  cases, 
his. 

When,  for  instance,  certain  anti-machine  lead- 
ers, who  based  their  claims  for  recognition  simply 
upon  the  ground  that  they  had  supported  him  for 
the  nomination  at  St.  Louis,  while  the  regular  or- 
ganization was  against  it,  sought  to  appropriate 
the  New  York  patronage,  President  McKinley 
frankly  told  them  that  they  must  invent  some  bet- 
ter excuse  than  that.  In  spite  of  their  arguments, 
he  appointed  George  E.  Bidwell  Collector  of  the 
Port  of  New  York,  Cornelius  Van  Cott  Post- 
master, and  named  for  the  big  offices  only  such 
men  as  finally  had  the  indorsement  of  the  dominant 
organization. 

When  he  made  up  his  mind  to  put  Cornelius  N. 
Bliss  in  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  he  sent  for 
me  and  asked  me  if  I  had  any  objections.  Though 
Bliss  had  been  anything  but  a  friend,  I  answered 
that  I  believed  he  would  be  an  excellent  cabinet 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

officer,  and  that  if  his  appointment  would  restore 
harmony  among  New  York  Bepublicans,  I  would 
offer  no  protest.  Bliss  was  named.  For  a  time 
at  least  there  was  no  friction  between  the  wings 
represented  by  Bliss  and  myself. 

Once  in  a  while  there  were  differences  between 
us  about  New  York  appointments,  but  they  were 
eventually  smoothed  over,  and  Bliss  went  out  of 
the  cabinet  voluntarily  with  my  benediction. 

President  McKinley  was  the  most  tender- 
hearted man  I  ever  met  in  politics.  He  was  a 
peace-maker  rather  than  a  fighter.  Perhaps  to 
him  the  cruelest  act  he  was  called  upon  to  per- 
form was  to  advise  the  declaration  of  war  upon 
Spain  in  1898.  He  had  served  with  distinction  in 
the  Civil  War.  He  told  me  he  had  seen  blood  and 
carnage  enough  then  to  satisfy  him  for  a  lifetime. 
His  chief  solicitation  was  about  the  American 
homes  that  would  be  wrecked  and  the  widows  and 
orphans  that  would  be  produced,  through  any  of- 
ficial act  of  his.  But  when  the  hour  came  for  him 
to  take  a  decisive  step,  with  the  memory  of  the 
brave  sailor  boys  who  died  aboard  the  Maine  sunk 
deep  in  his  heart,  he  did  not  falter.  No  man  in 
this  country  was  happier  than  when  articles  of 
peace  were  signed.  And  no  man  did  more  to  se- 
cure to  Cuba  and  her  people  the  freedom  for  which 
they  fought. 

There  was  not  a  ripple  of  opposition  to  the  re- 
nomination  of  President  McKinley.  His  election 
was  assured  from  the  start.  It  could  not  have 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

been  doubtful,  inasmuch  as  his  rival  was  again 
the  champion  of  free  silver  and  other  heresies. 

McKinley  *s  second  term  began  under  most  aus- 
picious skies.  He  had  endeared  himself  to  all  who 
knew  him.  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  Senator 
John  M.  Thurston,  when  he  wrote:  "McKinley 
is  the  best-loved  President  since  Lincoln." 

ASSASSINATION    OF    M^KINLEY 

Little  did  any  of  us  dream  that  he  would  suffer 
the  tragic  fate  of  the  great  Emancipator. 

As  a  young  man  I  was  shocked  at  the  news  of 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  As  a  poli- 
tician and  mature  man  I  was  horrified  by  the  mur- 
der of  Garfield.  I  was  completely  dazed — ap- 
palled— when  September  6,  1901,  a  newspaper 
man  informed  me,  while  at  dinner,  that  President 
McKinley  was  shot.  At  first  I  could  not  credit 
it.  I  could  not  conceive  how  a  man  who  had  per- 
haps fewer  enemies  than  any  President  we  ever 
had  would  be  singled  out  for  punishment.  I  re- 
call, however,  that  when  there  came  the  astound- 
ing, distressing,  sickening  message  from  Buffalo 
describing  how  Anarchist  Czolgoscz  had  put  a 
pistol  to  the  President's  heart,  I  exclaimed:  "Had 
I  been  there,  I  should  have  forgotten  there  is  a 
law  against  lynching."  I  really  could  not  control 
myself.  Had  there  been  a  rope  handy  I  should 
have  helped  to  hang  the  brute  to  the  nearest  lamp- 
post. 

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NO  TEMPORIZING  WITH  ASSASSINS 

I  said  at  the  time,  and  I  reassert  it,  that  I  do 
not  believe  in  temporizing  with  assassins  of  pub- 
lic men.  The  speediest  punishment  should  follow 
their  crimes.  The  quicker  the  drumhead  court- 
martial  is  summoned  and  the  wretch  punished  to 
the  fullest  extent  of  the  law,  the  better  for  the 
country  and  for  society. 

When  later  in  the  day  advices  indicated  that 
the  President  had  partially  recovered  from  the 
shock,  and  Dr.  Eixey  wired  he  would  live,  I  could 
not  repress  a  < '  Thank  God ! ' '  and  added :  ' '  Here- 
after I  am  a  belligerent  McKinleyite. " 

How  prayerfully  and  tearfully  we  watched  the 
bulletins  telling  the  latest  phases  of  the  great  pa- 
tient's suffering!  How  millions  of  children  in  the 
nation's  schools  lifted  their  hands  to  Heaven  and 
implored  God  to  save  the  President  to  them !  We 
hoped  those  prayers  would  be  answered.  But  a 
little  more  than  a  week  after  his  prostration, 
President  McKinley,  a  smile  on  his  lips,  and 
whispering:  "Thy  will  be  done,"  passed  to  the 
above. 

The  entire  nation  was  in  mourning.  As  if  to 
add  to  the  tragedy  of  the  event,  Eoosevelt,  who 
had  been  summoned  to  Buffalo  to  immediately 
take  the  oath  of  office  as  President,  was  reported 
lost  in  the  Adirondacks.  With  his  proverbial  luck, 
however,  he  soon  emerged,  and  after  a  thrilling 
carriage  ride  of  thirty  miles,  caught  a  special 

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train,  that  whisked  him  to  the  bier  of  his  prede- 
cessor. 

EOOSEVELT   AS   PRESIDENT 

That  the  new  President  fully  appreciated  the 
deplorable  circumstances  under  which  he  was  ele- 
vated to  the  chieftainship  of  the  nation,  was  mani- 
fested by  him  soon  after  he  qualified.  Then  he 
issued  this  proclamation: 

"In  this  hour  of  deep  and  national  bereavement, 
I  wish  to  state  that  it  shall  be  my  aim  to  continue 
absolutely  and  without  variance  the  policy  of 
President  McKinley,  for  the  peace,  prosperity  and 
honor  of  our  beloved  country." 

These  lines  did  much  to  restore  the  confidence 
of  the  business  community  and  allay  the  misap- 
prehension some  felt  that  a  revolution  in  Mc- 
Kinley 's  conduct  of  the  Government  was  threat- 
ened. 

Though  inclined  to  be  spectacular,  and  the  di- 
rect antithesis  of  McKinley  in  some  methods  of 
dealing  with  public  problems,  I  desire  to  testify 
that  Eoosevelt  kept  the  faith  he  pledged  at  Buf- 
falo, September  14,  1901.  He  sincerely  sought  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  McKinley  and  proved 
himself  one  of  our  greatest  Presidents.  I  may  be 
pardoned  if  I  remind  my  readers  that  but  for  my 
insistence  upon  his  nomination  for  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency, Eoosevelt  would  certainly  not  have  suc- 
ceeded McKinley  in  1901,  and  maybe  he  would 
never  have  been  President  of  the  United  States. 

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HOW  ROOT  BECAME  WAR  SECRETARY 

I  have  frequently  been  asked  how  it  happened 
that  I  finally  permitted  Elihu  Eoot  to  become  Sec- 
retary of  War  under  President  McKinley.  Some 
have  regarded  it  as  inexplicable  that  I  should  ever 
have  allowed  a  man  who  had  so  many  years  fought 
me,  to  obtain  a  high  cabinet  portfolio  while  I,  as 
a  U.  S.  Senator,  possessed  the  power  to  at  least 
block  him  for  a  while  or  defeat  the  confirmation 
of  his  nomination.  I  will  tell  you  how  Boot  came 
to  be  Secretary  of  War,  and  with  my  acquiescence. 

The  first  McKinley  administration  began  with- 
out any  understanding  as  to  where  I  stood  in  the 
President's  regard.  I  had  opposed  McKinley 's 
nomination  to  the  last.  I  had  been  instrumental 
in  an  offer  to  combine  the  field  against  McKinley 's 
nomination  at  St.  Louis.  I  had  suggested  the 
plan  of  New  England  being  for  Eeed ;  New  York 
for  Morton;  Pennsylvania  for  Quay;  Indiana  for 
Fairbanks;  Iowa  for  Allison,  and  the  various 
States  each  for  a  favorite  son.  Even  when  this 
combination  broke  under  the  terrific  pounding  it 
received  from  Mark  A.  Hanna,  I  did  not  abate 
my  opposition  to  McKinley 's  nomination,  but  car- 
ried it  into  the  convention.  I  was  not  reconciled 
to  it  even  by  the  concession  that  Hanna  reluc- 
tantly made  of  a  plank  in  the  platform,  distinctly 
committing  the  Republican  party  to  the  gold 
standard.  During  the  campaign,  though  I  had 
been  constantly  consulted,  it  was  by  Quay  rather 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

than  by  Hanna.  The  administration,  as  I  have 
stated,  really  commenced  without  my  knowing 
whether  or  not  I  was  persona  non  grata  at  the 
White  House. 

I  was  not  left  long  in  suspense,  however.  The 
President  made  haste  to  consult  and  conciliate  me. 
I  was  soon  made  to  feel  that  my  advice  on  public 
matters  was  welcome  to  the  President,  and  that 
no  New  York  appointments  would  be  made  with- 
out my  approval. 

The  first  test  came  on  the  nomination  of  Theo- 
dore Eoosevelt  to  be  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy.  At  that  time  I  did  not  feel  very  cordial 
toward  Eoosevelt,  but  when  the  President  wanted 
to  make  the  nomination,  I  was  the  medium  through 
which  that  nomination  reached  Eoosevelt.  [See 
details  in  addenda.] 

A  severer  test  of  my  willingness  to  cooperate 
with  the  President  came  when  my  warm  personal 
friend,  General  Eussell  A.  Alger,  having  been  bit- 
terly attacked  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  connection 
with  the  conflict  with  Spain,  was  forced  to  retire 
from  his  office.  The  President  wanted  the  serv- 
ices in  this  office  of  a  great  lawyer,  and  had  fixed 
his  mind  on  Elihu  Eoot.  He  knew  that  I  profound- 
ly resented  the  displacement  of  Alger  by  anybody, 
and  he  knew  that  Eoot  had  been  my  consistent  op- 
ponent in  New  York  State  political  affairs.  The 
President  wanted  to  feel  his  way.  Therefore  he 
got  some  of  my  friends  on  his  side  before  he 
made  the  communication  to  me  that  Eoot  was  to 

404 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

be  appointed.  The  President  sent  for  Congress- 
man Lemuel  Ely  Quigg,  at  the  time  president  of 
the  New  York  County  Committee  and  known  to 
be  in  my  confidence.  The  President  asked  Quigg 
to  find  out  how  I  would  receive  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Boot's  appointment.  Mr.  Quigg  saw  me  and 
made  the  communication.  As  near  as  I  can  re- 
member I  said  to  Quigg: 

THOMAS  F.  RYAN   CLINCHES  IT 

"  There  is  room  in  this  world  for  all  kinds  of 
men.  Elihu  Eoot  is  one  of  the  keenest,  ablest  and 
squarest  opponents  that  I  ever  have  met.  Per- 
sonally I  do  not  care  whether  or  not  he  is  Sec- 
retary of  War.  I  won't  go  across  the  street  to 
help  him,  and  I  won't  get  out  of  my  chair  to  hurt 
him.  But  if  anybody  is  going  to  tell  Elihu  Eoot 
what  I  guess  will  be  welcome  news  to  him,  that  he 
is  to  be  Secretary  of  War,  I  want  that  man  to  be 
Thomas  F.  Eyan.  So  you  go  to  Mr.  Eyan  and 
give  him  my  compliments,  and  tell  him  that  the 
President  wants  to  see  Mr.  Eoot,  offering  the  of- 
fice of  Secretary  of  War,  and  that  he  shall  tell 
Mr.  Eoot  from  whom  he  got  his  information." 

I  rather  suspect  that  Mr.  Eyan  saw  Mr.  Eoot. 
Anyway,  the  President  nominated  Eoot,  and  I 
voted  for  the  confirmation  of  his  nomination.  And 
we  have  been  good  friends  ever  since. 


405 


CHAPTER  XX 
1901 

Influences  that  made  Seth  Low  Mayor — Selected 
by  my  allies  after  a  long  contest  in  the  Fusion 
conference — He  fails  to  drive  the  Tiger  out 
of  the  city  government — Forgot  he  was  a  Re- 
publican— Plays  the  mugwump  game  and  is 
forced  into  private  life. 

To  Timothy  L.  Woodruff  and  Eobert  C. 
Morris,  more  than  to  any  other  individuals,  was 
due  the  nomination  and  election  of  Seth  Low  for 
Mayor  of  New  York  in  1901. 

Four-fifths  of  the  vote  cast  for  Low  was  cast  by 
the  Eepublicans  who  followed  the  leadership  of 
these  men,  despite  the  fact  that  nearly  all  the 
other  nominees  on  the  anti-Tammany  ticket  were 
Democrats. 

Morris,  as  president  of  the  New  York  Republi- 
can County  Committee,  having  been  elected  to  that 
office  by  my  friends,  really  began  the  anti-Tam- 
many campaign  in  1900  during  the  Presidential 
contest  of  that  year.  While  performing  yeoman 
sendee  in  behalf  of  McKinley  and  Roosevelt,  the 
party  nominees  for  President  and  Vice-President, 
and  Odell  and  Woodruff,  the  candidates  for  Gov- 
ernor and  Lieutenant- Governor,  Mr.  Morris  had 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

his  eye  constantly  on  a  plan  for  the  redemption  of 
New  York  from  Tammany  misrule.  Though  the 
Presidential  contest  was  at  fever  heat,  President 
Morris  frequently  consulted  with  me  about  what 
ought  to  be  done  to  drive  the  Tiger  out  of  the  City 
Hall.  I  so  thoroughly  trusted  Morris  that  I  had 
no  hesitation  in  telling  him  to  go  ahead  and  I 
would  stand  for  anything  he  did. 

It  had  been  demonstrated  by  the  1897  election 
returns  that  there  was  a  tangible  and  certain  anti- 
Tammany  plurality  in  the  city.  The  combined 
vote  of  Low,  Citizens '  Union,  and  Tracy,  Eepubli- 
can,  showed  a  plurality  of  about  50,000  over  Van 
Wyck,  the  Tammany  candidate  for  Mayor  that 
year.  How  to  unite  this  vote  was  the  task  to 
which  Morris  set  himself. 

Early  in  February  of  1901,  President  Morris 
called  the  New  York  Republican  County  Commit- 
tee together,  and  it  declared  for  a  fusion  of  all 
anti-Tammany  forces.  In  the  words  of  the  reso- 
lution adopted,  it  avowed  its  purpose  to  unite 
"with  all  other  organizations  and  associations, 
social  or  political,  and  with  all  persons,  without 
regard  to  party  affiliations,  in  efforts  to  elect  a 
municipal  ticket,  selected  without  regard  to  par- 
tisanship and  commanding  public  confidence." 

ANTI-TAMMANY  AMALGAMATION 

With  this,  President  Morris  renewed  efforts  al- 
ready begun  months  back  to  amalgamate  oppo- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

nents  of  Tammany  Hall.  He  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Woodruff;  National  Committeeman 
Frederick  S.  Gibbs;  Postmaster  Cornelius  Van 
Cott ;  George  E.  Sheldon,  afterward  Treasurer  of 
the  Eepublican  National  Committee;  and  other 
Greater  New  York  leaders,  were  in  daily  consul- 
tation with  me.  By  May  the  proposed  Fusion 
movement  was  an  entity.  In  that  month  the  New 
York  Eepublican  Committee  paid  President 
Morris  the  unprecedented  compliment  of  confer- 
ring upon  him  power  to  name  a  committee  to 
confer  with  representatives  of  other  anti-Tam- 
many bodies,  and  take  such  action  as  he  and  it 
might  deem  advisable.  President  Morris  selected 
Frederick  S.  Gibbs;  Chairman  William  H.  Ten 
Eyck,  of  the  New  York  Eepublican  County  Execu- 
tive Committee;  Postmaster  Cornelius  Van  Cott; 
Captain  F.  Norton  Goddard ;  McDougall  Hawkes ; 
and  George  E.  Sheldon. 

Meantime,  Lieutenant-Governor  Woodruff  was 
experiencing  the  most  difficult  job  he  had  yet  es- 
sayed to  secure  a  union  of  anti-Tammany  forces 
from  Kings.  The  Croker  machine  in  Manhattan, 
and  the  McLaughlin  machine  in  Brooklyn,  busied 
themselves  to  make  it  sure  that  every  opposing 
force  should  be  split  into  factions,  and  demand 
such  returns  from  promoters  of  the  Fusion  pro- 
gram as  to  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  unite. 
The  chief  opponent  of  Hugh  McLaughlin,  the 
Democratic  leader  in  Kings,  was  then  the  late 
Senator  Michael  J.  Coffey.  Coffey  organized  the 

408 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Cottier  Plait 

Brooklyn  Democracy  to  down  McLaughlin.  When 
approached  about  joining  the  anti-Tammany  com- 
bination for  the  campaign,  Coffey  demanded  the 
right  of  naming  Colonel  Edward  M.  Knox  for 
Mayor,  the  Brooklyn  Borough  President,  and 
nearly  every  other  nominee  in  that  borough.  The 
Citizens'  Union  rebelled  against  this  and  began 
to  threaten  to  go  it  alone.  The  Single  Taxers,  led 
by  A.  J.  Boulton,  boomed  Bird  S.  Coler  for  Mayor, 
and  seized  upon  the  Citizens'  Union  organization. 
The  German- American  Municipal  Reform  League 
boosted  Charles  A.  Schieren  for  Mayor,  while  an- 
other for  the  time  irreconcilable  element  was  the 
German  Democrats,  which  Otto  Kempner  organ- 
ized into  the  German- American  Citizens'  League. 

ALL-SUMMER    CONFERENCES 

There  were  many  acrimonious  conferences 
among  the  Kings  factions.  Finally  Coffey  was 
won  over  by  the  promise  that  J.  Edward  Swan- 
strom  should  be  the  candidate  for  Borough  Presi- 
dent, and  the  other  organizations  were  pledged 
places  on  the  county  or  other  local  tickets.  Mor- 
ris and  Woodruff,  with  full  authority  to  act  for 
their  organizations,  met  the  other  anti-Tammany 
organization  committees  May  28.  E.  Fulton  Cut- 
ting spoke  for  the  Citizens'  Union;  John  C.  Shee- 
han  for  the  Greater  New  York  Democracy;  Ldeu- 
tenant-Governor  Woodruff  for  the  Kings  County 
Republicans;  Herman  Bidder  for  the  German- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

American  Eeform  Union;  Otto  Kempner  for  the 
Brooklyn  Citizens'  League;  Henry  Weissman  for 
the  Brooklyn  Municipal  League ;  Benno  Leowy  for 
the  Republican  League;  Gustav  Scholer  for  the 
German- American  Republican  Committee;  and 
George  L.  Davis  for  the  New  York  Municipal 
League. 

Conferences  were  held  throughout  the  summer 
as  to  the  make-up  of  the  tickets,  City,  County,  Leg- 
islative and  Aldermanic.  The  attitude  of  the 
Republican  organizations  throughout  was,  that 
they  merely  desired  the  nomination  of  candidates 
who  would,  if  elected,  be  a  guarantee  for  honest, 
intelligent,  economic,  business-like  and  non-parti- 
san government,  as  against  a  band  of  Tammany 
Hall  conspirators,  devoted  to  public  plunder,  and 
whose  office-holders,  to  use  the  language  of  Rich- 
ard Croker,  the  chief  of  Tammany,  "are  working 
for  their  pockets  all  the  time.  ' ' 

STRIFE  OVER  NOMINEES 

It  was  of  course  a  very  hard  and,  at  times,  ex- 
asperating task  to  solidify  the  various  elements 
upon  tickets.  The  Greater  New  York  Democracy, 
for  instance,  insisted  that  only  a  simon-pure  Demo- 
crat like  John  D.  Crimmins,  Jacob  A.  Cantor, 
John  G.  Carlisle,  John  Dewitt  Warner,  Charles  V. 
Fornes  or  Daniel  S.  Lamont  be  named  for  Mayor. 
The  Citizens '  Union  submitted  the  names  of  John 
Dewitt  Warner,  George  L.  Rives,  George  Foster 

410 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Peabody  and  Seth  Low.  The  Germans  stuck  it 
out  for  Bidder,  until  it  became  apparent  that  he 
could  not  be  chosen.  The  Brooklyn  Democracy 
urged  Colonel  Knox.  Eidder,  disappointed  that 
he  could  not  himself  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
ticket,  concentrated  his  fire  upon  Mr.  Low  so  ef- 
fectively for  a  while,  that  the  Citizens'  Union 
finally  withdrew  his  name.  But  just  then  Wood- 
ruff stepped  in  and  assumed  charge  of  the  Low 
campaign,  in  conjunction  with  President  Morris. 
They  succeeded  in  weaning  away  from  Eidder  a 
majority  of  his  German  adherents,  and  on  the  first 
ballot  taken  for  Mayor  in  the  conference,  secured 
for  Low  eleven  of  the  eighteen  votes.  The  Citi- 
zens' Union  lined  up  against  Low,  maintaining 
that  either  Warner,  Peabody  or  Eives  should  be 
nominated.  Cutting,  however,  on  second  ballot 
swung  his  Citizens '  Union  followers  for  Low,  and 
he  was  declared  the  nominee  with  unanimity,  ex- 
cept that  Mr.  Eidder  stood  out  against  him. 

Edward  M.  Grout,  Democrat,  of  Brooklyn,  and 
Charles  V.  Fornes,  Democrat,  of  Manhattan,  were 
made  the  candidates  for  Comptroller  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  respectively. 
Grout  was  really  selected  by  Lieutenant-Governor 
Woodruff. 

The  Eepublican  city  convention,  on  September 
24,  ratified  the  ticket.  The  platform  so  correctly 
describes  prevalent  municipal  conditions  that  I 
shall  quote  from  it  here: 


411 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


TAMMANY,   A  BAND   OF   CONSPIBATOBS 

We  arraign  Tammany  Hall  as  a  band  of  con- 
spirators against  the  public  welfare ;  as  an  organ- 
ization devoted  to  public  plunder,  whose  office- 
holders, in  the  conduct  of  the  public  business,  to 
use  the  language  of  their  chief,  "are  working  for 
their  pockets  all  the  time." 

The  administration  of  the  Police  Department 
embodies  and  illustrates  the  theory  and  practice 
of  Tammany  Government.  License  to  break  the 
law  is  unblushingly  bought  and  sold,  and  those 
who  are  sworn  to  enforce  the  law  are  the  agents 
of  its  subversion.  The  machinery  designed  for 
the  administration  of  justice  is  employed  to  pro- 
mote vice  and  to  protect  criminals,  and  the  sys- 
tem of  blackmail  is  carried  so  far  that  in  many 
parts  of  the  city  it  is  not  possible  to  conduct  an 
honest  and  legitimate  business,  until  tribute  has 
been  paid  to  official  and  unofficial  blackmailers. 

In  the  name  of  our  candidates,  we  promise  that 
if  they  are  elected,  the  blackmail  iniquity,  which  is 
the  foulest  disgrace  of  Tammany  government, 
shall  be  rendered  impossible  by  the  complete  re- 
organization of  the  Police  Department.  In  the 
four  years  Tammany  Hall  has  administered  the 
Greater  City  of  New  York,  the  budget  has  been 
increased  from  seventy-seven  million  dollars  to 
the  enormous  amount  of  ninety-eight  million  dol- 
lars; and  to  raise  this  sum  by  taxation,  the  tax 
rate  has  been  annually  increased,  in  spite  of  the 

412 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

constant  increase  in  the  valuation  of  the  real  and 
personal  property.  How  this  enormous  amount 
paid  by  the  taxpayers  has  been  expended  by  Tam- 
many Hall,  appears  in  the  vast  and  ever-increas- 
ing roster  of  the  municipal  service.  Thousands  of 
places  have  been  created  in  the  departments,  sole- 
ly for  the  purpose  of  supporting  Tammany  work- 
ers at  the  public  expense.  Salaries  have  been  in- 
creased without  reason  or  excuse.  Favoritism  and 
extravagance  in  the  purchase  of  supplies,  and  in 
the  conduct  of  the  public  business  generally,  have 
disgraced  almost  every  department  of  the  city 
government. 

The  one  issue  in  this  campaign  is  an  upright 
administration  of  municipal  affairs,  conceived  and 
executed  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  It 
is  the  issue  of  common  honesty.  It  is  the  fight  of 
good  citizenship  against  bad,  selfish  and  careless 
citizenship.  It  is  an  issue  that  must  abide,  and  a 
fight  that  must  be  kept  up  until  the  Tammany 
idea  of  government  has  been  uprooted  and 
destroyed. 

With  such  candidates,  standing  upon  the  plat- 
form outlined,  the  anti-Tammany  organizations 
began  a  most  vigorous  campaign  for  the  release  of 
the  city  from  the  fangs  of  the  Tiger.  Fusion  on  a 
County  ticket,  and  Aldermanic  and  Legislative 
tickets,  too,  was  effected. 


413 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


William  Travers  Jerome  was  named  for  District 
Attorney.  And  lie  proved  the  stormy  petrel  of 
the  canvass.  Having  been  grossly  mininformed, 
by  whom  I  know  not,  Jerome,  one  night,  at  Lyric 
Hall,  delivered  a  vituperative  attack  upon  me. 
He  publicly  accused  me  of  having  conspired  with 
the  late  William  C.  Whitney,  and  other  supposed 
supporters  of  the  Tammany  ticket,  to  defeat  him 
at  the  polls.  There  was  not  the  slightest  justifi- 
cation for  the  charge.  The  best  answer  to  it,  per- 
haps, was  that  the  day  prior  to  the  Jerome  utter- 
ance, I  had  sent  to  headquarters  a  substantial  con- 
tribution to  the  Jerome  campaign  fund.  This 
Jerome  very  soon  verified.  While  Tammany  was 
seeking  to  make  the  most  of  Jerome 's  assault  upon 
me,  and  ardent  Eepublicans  were  threatening  to 
resent  it  by  either  putting  him  off  the  ticket  or 
insuring  his  defeat  at  the  polls,  the  candidate  with- 
drew his  charge  and  demonstrated  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  all  concerned  that  he  had  been  the  unwill- 
ing victim  of  misinformation.  Except  for  this 
incident,  there  was  none  that  seriously  impeded 
the  march  of  the  Fusion  hosts  to  victory. 

Rarely  have  the  Greater  New  York  Eepublican 
organizations  conducted  a  more  offensive  battle 
than  they  did  in  the  1901  campaign.  A  house-to- 
house  canvass  was  made  and  so  thoroughly  man- 
aged that  we  knew  fully  a  fortnight  before  elec- 
tion day  that  we  had  Tammany  whipped.  Despite 

414 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Eichard  Croker's  attempt  to  conceal  the  Tiger's 
claws  beneath  the  cloak  of  Edward  M.  Shepard, 
his  candidate  for  Mayor,  a  man  who  had  hitherto 
been  his  implacable  foe,  Low  defeated  him  by  over 
30,000  plurality.  Every  candidate  on  the  Fusion 
City  and  County  tickets  was  elected.  So  chagrined 
was  Mr.  Croker  that  he  formally  abdicated  for- 
ever the  Tammany  leadership,  and  hied  himself 
back  to  the  seclusion  of  his  Irish  castle. 

As  Job  E.  Hedges  aptly  observed  at  the  time: 
"The  Fusion  movement  put  an  end  to  government 
by  cable. " 

LOW  AND  I  AGREE  ON  PATRONAGE 

The  Eepublican  organizations  fared  much  bet- 
ter for  patronage  under  Low  than  under  Strong. 
Strong  had  been  long  on  preelection  promises,  but 
nothing  in  fulfilment.  Low  made  comparatively 
few  promises,  but  I  must  do  him  the  justice  to 
say  that  he  did  his  best  to  make  those  few  good. 
Soon  after  Low's  election,  he  and  I  met  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  It  was  agreed  between  us 
that  Colonel  John  N.  Partridge,  who  had  served 
under  Low  while  Mayor  of  Brooklyn,  in  the  early 
eighties,  as  Police  Commissioner,  and  under  Gov- 
ernor Eoosevelt  as  Superintendent  of  Public 
Works,  should  be  Police  Commissioner  for  the 
Greater  New  York.  Partridge  was  not  the  first 
choice  of  the  organizations,  but  was  accepted,  and 
he  was  appointed  as  a  Eepublican.  So  were 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

MacDougall  Hawkes,  Dock  Commissioner;  Thos. 
Sturgis,  Fire  Commissioner;  William  R.  Will- 
cox,  President  of  the  Park  Commission;  Rich- 
ard Young,  Commissioner  of  Parks  for  Brooklyn ; 
James  L.  Wells,  President,  and  Commissioner 
Samuel  Strassbourger,  of  the  Tax  Board;  and 
Homer  Folks,  Commissioner  of  Charities.  Not 
all  of  these  were  by  any  means  devoted  Republi- 
can organization  men,  but  they  were  so  much  to 
be  preferred  to  those  named  by  Strong  that  we 
acquiesced  in  their  selection. 

Though,  as  I  have  said,  the  Republicans  cast 
four-fifths  of  the  entire  vote  for  Low,  he  named 
Republicans  for  only  fifteen  of  the  twenty-five 
most  important  places  within  his  gift.  The  great 
Street  Cleaning  Department  was  placed  in  charge 
of  Dr.  John  McGraw  Woodbury,  whom  we  never 
had  heard  of  as  a  street  cleaner  or  anything  else. 
He  was  said  to  be  a  Democrat.  Herman  Ridder, 
who  so  emphatically  opposed  the  nomination  of 
Low,  landed  Gustav  Linden  thai  as  Commissioner 
of  Bridges.  E.  J.  Lederle,  whose  politics  I  never 
knew,  was  made  Commissioner  of  Health;  Robert 
W.  DeForest,  Democrat,  was  made  Tenement 
House  Commissioner;  Thomas  W.  Hynes,  Demo- 
crat, Commissioner  of  Correction;  J.  Hampden 
Dougherty,  Democrat,  Commissioner  of  Gas,  Elec- 
tricity and  Water  Supply ;  William  H.  Russell  and 
Edward  T.  Owen,  Democrats,  Commissioners  of 
Accounts.  John  E.  Eustis,  at  present  one  of  the 
Hughes  Public  Service  Commissioners,  was  named 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

for  Park  Commissioner  for  the  Bronx.  George  L. 
Eives,  Democrat,  was  chosen  Corporation  Counsel. 
Though  he  was  peculiarly  objectionable  to  some 
of  the  most  devoted  supporters  of  Low,  they  of- 
fered no  opposition. 

ONE  PERSON  APPOINTED  FOB  ME 

Low  had  one  Judge  of  the  Special  Sessions 
Court  to  name.  He  for  a  long  time  refused  to 
consider  the  claims  of  any  Eepublican.  He  in- 
sisted that  he  must  have  a  Hebrew  Democrat. 
There  were  more  conferences  between  Low  and 
Morris  over  this  appointment  than  over  any  other 
except  perhaps  that  of  McDougall  Hawkes.  Mor- 
ris from  the  outset  maintained  that  a  Eepublican 
should  be  selected,  and  kept  urging  Julius  M. 
Mayer,  a  Eepublican  Hebrew.  The  Mayor  finally 
agreed  to  appoint  him  if  I  would  make  a  personal 
request.  I  did  so,  and  Mayer  went  upon  the  bench. 

Looking  back  over  the  personnel  of  the  Low 
administration,  I  can  hardly  recall  another  official 
whose  appointment  was  due  ultimately  to  my  per- 
sonal desire.  I  have  been  told  since  that  with  the 
completion  of  his  cabinet,  Mayor  Low  became  pos- 
sessed of  the  idea  that  he  had  done  all  he  thought 
necessary  for  the  Eepublican  organization.  And 
much  to  the  disappointment  of  the  leaders  he  per- 
mitted Eepublican  and  Democratic  heads  of  de- 
partments to  studiously  ignore  recommendations 
for  place  in  subordinate  positions.  The  result 

417 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  that  instead  of  the  devoutly  wished  for  turn- 
ing out  of  office  of  thousands  of  Tammany  hench- 
men, which  the  people  had  a  right  to  expect  when 
they  voted  for  Low,  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
them  continued  to  hold  jobs  and  labor  incessantly 
for  the  machine  in  Fourteenth  Street. 

Grout,  whose  ambition  seemed  to  be  to  succeed 
Low  as  Mayor,  as  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic 
party,  played  in  with  Tammany  Hall  so  success- 
fully as  to  force  his  selection  for  Comptroller  by 
that  organization  three  years  later. 

Fornes  had  very  little  patronage  to  dispense. 
He  did  fulfil  one  promise,  and  that  was  to  make 
Herbert  Parsons,  now  chairman  of  the  New  York 
Eepublican  County  Committee,  chairman  of  the 
Aldermanic  Finance  Committee.  Probably  40,000 
of  the  45,000  employees  carried  on  the  city  payrolls 
had  been  thrown  under  the  protection  of  the  civil 
service  by  Tammany  Hall.  Therefore,  only  about 
one-ninth  of  the  total  number  of  places  were  avail- 
able for  the  new  administration.  Commissioner 
of  Docks  Hawkes,  though  appointed  expressly 
upon  recommendation  of  President  Morris,  and 
though  possessing  about  fifteen  hundred  places 
for  distribution,  retained  all  but  about  three  hun- 
dred of  the  Tammany  followers  he  found  in  his 
department.  Fire  Commissioner  Sturgis  pursued 
a  similar  policy.  So  did  the  majority  of  the  other 
Eepublican  heads  of  departments. 


418 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


FUSION  "PAP"  USED  TO  FEED  THE  TIGEB 

As  for  the  Democratic  department  chiefs,  prac- 
tically all  of  them  seemed  imbued  with  a  deter- 
mination to  court  the  favor  of  Tammany  Hall, 
hoping  that  with  the  coming  of  another  campaign 
they  would  be  honored  with  places  on  that  organi- 
zation's ticket.  This  was  particularly  true  of 
President  Jacob  A.  Cantor,  of  the  Borough  of 
Manhattan,  who,  by  the  way,  has  not  been  heard 
of  in  politics  since  he  retired. 

Jerome  declined  to  consider  any  proposition  for 
the  appointment  of  attaches  in  the  District  Attor- 
ney's office  desired  by  the  Eepublican  organiza- 
tion. President  Willcox,  of  the  Park  Commis- 
sion, and  his  associates,  followed  a  policy  of  an- 
tagonism toward  any  suggestions  President  Mor- 
ris might  make.  The  result  was  that  instead  of 
Low  and  his  running  mates  turning  the  "Tam- 
many rascals"  out,  an  army  of  over  forty  thou- 
sand was  permitted  to  retain  place.  And  this 
army  fought  as  one  man  successfully  in  1903  to 
put  Low  out  and  McClellan  in  the  Mayor's  chair. 
Indeed,  if  the  election  returns  of  that  year  are 
studied  closely,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  united  sup- 
port by  this  aggregation  of  the  Tammany  candi- 
dates was  more  than  sufficient  to  undo  all  that  had 
been  promised  by  those  who  made  up  and  put  in 
power  the  Fusion  nominees  of  two  years  before. 


419 


CHAPTER  XXI 
1901-1906 

How  I  nominated  and  elected  Odell  Governor — 
He  starts  out  too  quick  to  become  a  State 
leader — Our  differences  over  appointments 
and  legislation — Great  mistake  in  failure  to 
put  the  police  under  State  supervision — Con- 
tests at  1902  wd  1904  State  and  National 
conventions — Am  reflected  to  the  Senate — 
Roosevelt  cause  of  Odell' s  downfall — Hughes, 
the  dictator. 

THE  nomination  of  Eoosevelt  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent  consummated,  it  became  necessary  to  select 
his  successor  for  Governor. 

A  practically  unanimous  sentiment  for  Benja- 
min B.  Odell,  Jr.,  developed  among  the  loyal  Ee- 
publicans.  He  had  been  a  successful  business  man 
at  Newburgh,  had  served  several  terms  in  Con- 
gress, and  seemed  well  fitted  to  take  up  the  reins 
about  to  be  laid  down  by  Eoosevelt. 

The  one  argument  raised  against  Odell  was  that 
he  had  been  too  closely  identified  with  and  too 
active  in  organization  politics.  This  carried  no 
weight  with  me.  Nor  did  it  wield  any  influence 
with  the  delegates  who  assembled  at  Saratoga  in 

420 


TIMOTHY  L.  WOODRUFF  FRANK  W.  HIGGINS 

JOHN  RAINES 
421 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

September  of  1900.  They  nominated  Odell  with- 
out serious  opposition.  In  so  doing  they  bore 
testimony  to  his  business  capacity  and  party  de- 
votion. They  also  recognized  his  splendid  man- 
agement of  the  1898  canvass,  when  he  served  as 
chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee,  and 
within  the  last  two  weeks  transformed  what 
seemed  inevitable  defeat  into  a  substantial  vic- 
tory for  Eoosevelt  and  the  State  and  Legislative 
tickets.  Bryan's  nomination  for  President  by  the 
Democrats,  and  the  selection  of  McKinley  and 
Eoosevelt  by  the  Eepublicans,  made  New  York  as 
certain  for  us  as  anything  could  be. 

Though  Odell  was  cut  considerably  by  Inde- 
pendents, he  pulled  through  with  111,000  plu- 
rality over  John  B.  Stanchfield,  his  Democratic 
opponent. 

With  Odell 's  inauguration,  January  1, 1901, 1  be- 
came satisfied  that  we  had  a  typical  party  Gov- 
ernor, and  that  we  should  get  an  unalloyed  party 
administration.  Age  and  business  cares  had  in- 
duced me  to  surrender  to  Odell,  in  great  measure, 
the  management  of  the  organization. 

I  SURRENDER  ACTIVE  MANAGEMENT  TO  ODELL 

Friends  warned  me  that  I  was  committing  a 
blunder,  and  that  I  was  deliberately  handing  over 
power  to  a  man  who  would  use  it  against  me.  I 
answered  that  I  could  not  and  would  not  believe 
that  there  was  any  risk  in  delegating  my  au- 

422 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

thority  to  a  man  whom  I  had  made  State  Com- 
mitteeman,  chairman  of  the  State  Executive  and 
the  full  State  Committee,  and  named  for  Gov- 
ernor. I  trusted  Odell  as  I  would  trust  one  of 
my  own  sons,  and  thought  he  never  would  abuse 
that  confidence. 

Just  before  Odell  took  the  oath  of  office,  we 
talked  over  the  names  of  State  officers  to  be  ap- 
pointed. We  agreed  upon  a  majority  of  them.  It 
was,  however,  stipulated  that  we  should  not  select 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Works,  the  most  im- 
portant office  within  the  Governor's  hands,  until 
we  came  together  again. 

I  was  astonished,  a  day  or  two  after  Odell  as- 
sumed office,  to  read  in  the  newspapers  an  an- 
nouncement that  he  had  appointed  Charles 
Spencer  Boyd  Superintendent  of  Public  Works. 
This  did  not  accord  with  our  understanding.  I 
at  first  discredited  the  news.  I  soon  ascertained, 
however,  that  it  was  true. 

I  never  had  heard  of  Boyd.  The  Governor  had 
never  mentioned  him  to  me.  When  I  asked  the 
Governor  for  an  explanation,  he  replied  that  Boyd 
had  been  a  chum  of  his  at  Columbia  University; 
that  he  was  a  competent  civil  engineer,  and  that 
he  had  named  him  to  make  sure  that  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Works  would  be  run  intelligently 
and  on  a  business  basis. 

The  Governor  further  urged  that  he  must  as- 
sume the  privilege  of  choosing  at  least  one  of  his 
personal  and  trusted  friends  for  a  big  office.  I 

423 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

was  not  pleased,  but  I  finally  accepted  the  Boyd 
appointment  without  public  complaint. 

Trouble-makers  sought  at  this  very  time  to 
create  a  breach  between  the  Governor  and  myself. 
Intimate  political  associates  admonished  me  that 
the  Governor  was  ambitious  to  become  the  leader 
of  the  organization  and  was  plotting  to  supplant 
me.  I  was  loth  to  believe  this. 

My  friends  reminded  me,  too,  that  though  the 
Governor  had  agreed  with  me  and  Senator  Eaines 
and  other  Legislative  leaders  that  he  would  recom- 
mend in  his  initial  message  the  establishment  of 
a  State  constabulary,  and  that  the  recommenda- 
tion was  written  out  in  my  apartments ;  yet,  when 
that  message  was  promulgated,  there  was  no  sug- 
gestion about  a  State  constabulary. 

ODELL'S  PIBST  INSUBOBDINATE  ACT 

On  the  contrary,  the  Governor  urged  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  four-headed  New  York  Police  Board 
and  the  establishment  of  a  single-headed  commis- 
sion. Though  Senator  Eaines  had  introduced  the 
State  constabulary  measure,  concurred  in  by  the 
Governor  and  myself  soon  after  his  election,  the 
Governor  disowned  it  and  substituted  one  that 
put  out  of  office  the  Van  Wyck  board,  consisting 
of  Bernard  J.  York  and  John  B.  Sexton,  Demo- 
crats, and  Jacob  Hess  and  Henry  E.  Abell,  Re- 
publicans. Hess  and  Odell  had  displaced  Thomas 
L.  Hamilton  and  William  E.  Phillips,  Republicans, 

424 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

removed  by  Mayor  Van  Wyck,  because  they  would 
not  tolerate  Deveryism. 

The  bill  also  abolished  the  office  of  Chief  of 
Police,  then  held  by  William  S.  Devery.  Governor 
Odell  forced  this  through  the  Legislature  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1901,  and  approved  it  on  Washington's 
Birthday.  Mayor  Van  Wyck  quickly  appointed 
Michael  C.  Murphy  Commissioner  of  Police. 
Murphy  as  promptly  made  Devery  his  deputy. 
This  was  in  absolute  violation  of  a  contract  made 
by  the  Tammany  organization  leaders.  They 
promised  that  if  the  provision  in  the  original  bill, 
prohibiting  the  appointment  as  Commissioner,  or 
Deputy  Commissioner,  of  any  member  of  the  uni- 
formed force,  or  any  Commissioner,  were  stricken 
out,  they  would  guarantee  that  Devery  should  not 
be  retained  in  the  department  in  any  capacity. 
The  provision  was  eliminated.  Immediately  upon 
the  announcement  of  the  selection  of  Devery  as 
Murphy's  deputy,  I  determined  to  renew  my  in- 
fluence for  the  immediate  passage  of  the  Eaines 
State  constabulary  measure.  I  wired  Governor 
Odell  and  Speaker  Nixon  to  meet  me  the  day  fol- 
lowing the  appointment  of  Devery.  They  re- 
sponded. Nixon  readily  agreed  to  push  the  Eaines 
bill  through  the  Assembly.  Governor  Odell  pro- 
tested that  a  trial  must  be  made  of  the  new  law. 
I  argued  that  the  bestowal  of  additional  honors 
upon  Devery,  especially  after  the  vicious  record 
he  had  made,  was  sufficient  excuse  of  itself  for 
the  State  to  assume  supreme  control  of  the  New 

425 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

York  Police  Department.  I  went  so  far  as  to 
advise  that  the  Governor  was  justified  in  remov- 
ing not  only  Devery,  but  Commissioner  Murphy 
and  Mayor  Van  Wyck  himself,  for  so  flagrantly 
violating  the  spirit,  if  not  the  letter,  of  the  law. 
Again  the  Governor  pleaded:  "Wait!  wait!" 
Within  a  week  or  two  after  Murphy  and  Devery 
took  hold,  the  metropolitan  newspapers  demon- 
strated that  crime  was  never  so  prevalent;  that 
Devery  was  the  real  ruler  of  the  department,  and 
that  Murphy  was  his  mere  puppet.  The  Governor, 
too,  seemed  to  come  around  to  this  view. 

REPUDIATES  PLEDGE  FOB  STATE  POLICE 

March  20  we  met  again.  We  came  to  what  I 
regarded  as  a  thorough  understanding  as  to  the 
kind  of  police  legislation  he  would  approve.  It 
provided  for  a  restoration  of  the  metropolitan  sys- 
tem that  prevailed  in  the  early  seventies,  the  State 
taking  over  the  police  forces  of  the  cities  as  it 
had  already  taken  over  the  Excise  Department. 
The  draft  of  the  measure  was  prepared  and  ac- 
cepted by  the  Governor.  My  son,  Frank,  was  dele- 
gated to  perfect  it.  He  did  so,  and  at  my  request 
took  it  to  Albany.  When  he  submitted  it  to  the 
Governor,  he  was  astonished  to  hear  him  say  that 
he  had  concluded  to  stand  for  no  such  measure. 
When  my  son  reminded  him  of  the  agreement  at 
the  conference,  he  denied  having  given  any  pledge. 
The  two  parted  after  an  animated  colloquy. 

426 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

That  night  the  Governor  made  a  statement  at 
Albany,  declaring  that  he  never  had  promised  to 
approve  either  a  State  constabulary  or  a  metro- 
politan police  act.  I  could  not  conceive  that  this 
was  authentic.  I  called  up  the  Governor  on  the 
'phone.  He  told  me  he  had  changed  his  mind. 
I  asked  him  to  come  to  New  York,  as  soon  as  con- 
venient, and  talk  it  over.  'He  did  so.  I  again 
failed  to  persuade  him  that  it  was  the  proper  time 
to  push  the  proposed  legislation.  So  I  went  to 
work  to  create  party  and  popular  sentiment  for 
it.  That  my  views  might  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood, I  reduced  them  to  writing : 

WHY  I  ADVOCATED  A  STATE  CONSTABULARY 

"The  laws  against  gambling  and  disorderly  re- 
sorts, sales  of  liquor  under  prohibited  conditions, 
and  other  laws  for  the  suppression  of  vice  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  are  not  enforced  by  that  police. 
The  police  appear  to  be  protecting  the  law-break- 
ers. Such  protection  can  only  be  explained  upon 
the  theory  that  money  is  being  paid  therefor  by 
the  law-breakers. 

"The  conditions  have  become  so  bad,  that  citi- 
zens have  been  forced  to  organize  a  committee  to 
do  work  which  ought  to  be  done  by  the  police.  The 
committee  is  employing  its  own  detectives.  The 
necessity  for  such  a  committee,  and  the  protection 
of  vice  and  crime  by  the  police,  have  been  conclu- 
sively demonstrated  to  my  mind  by  the  successful 

427 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

raids  upon  gambling  houses  and  poolrooms,  re- 
cently made  by  the  District  Attorney  and  the 
committee. 

"It  is  evident  that  such  illegal  resorts  as  gam- 
bling houses  and  poolrooms  cannot  exist  unless 
their  location  and  the  facilities  which  they  offer 
are  generally  known,  and  the  claim  made  by  high 
officials  that  they  are  unable  to  suppress  illegal 
resorts,  which  are  known  to  the  driver  of  every 
cab,  is  obviously  absurd. 

"The  police  legislation,  enacted  at  the  present 
session,  was  thought  by  some  to  be  an  adequate 
remedy  for  the  evils  then  existing.  The  only  effect 
of  this  legislation  seems  to  have  been  to  increase 
the  malign  efficiency  of  the  police  force  as  an 
agency  for  the  encouragement  of  crime  and  the 
collection  of  money  from  criminals. 

"I  do  not  understand  that  the  Governor  takes 
issue  with  me  upon  any  of  the  facts  above  stated. 
I  understand  that  he  does  not  desire  to  propose 
additional  police  legislation  for  the  city  of  New 
York,  during  the  present  session,  because  such 
new  legislation  would  place  him  in  a  more  or  less 
antagonistic  position  to  the  views  expressed  by 
him  in  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature,  and 
because,  if  the  citizens  of  New  York  do  not  like 
police  blackmail,  their  best  remedy  is  to  be  found, 
not  by  an  appeal  to  the  Legislature,  but  at  the 
polls. 

"The  Governor  considers  these  objections  to 
additional  police  legislation,  at  this  session  of  the 

428 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Legislature,  sound.  I  do  not.  This  is  the  only  dif- 
ference between  us.  In  the  near  future  there  will 
probably  be  a  conference  of  some  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party.  I  have  confidence  in  the 
wisdom  of  these  leaders.  I  have  no  interest  in 
this  matter,  except  to  advise  what  seems  to  me 
for  the  public  good.  I  have  no  pride  of  opinion 
with  respect  to  the  police  question.  I  am  ready 
to  accept  any  conclusion  which  may  be  reached 
at  such  a  conference,  and  I  assume  that  the  Gov- 
ernor will  not  be  entirely  uninfluenced  by  the  view 
of  the  leaders  of  the  party." 

ODELL   REFUSES    TO    CONFEB 

I  called  a  conference  of  the  party  leaders.  They 
responded  from  all  quarters  of  the  State.  I  in- 
vited Governor  Odell  to  participate.  He  ignored 
my  communication.  After  an  all-day  exchange  of 
views,  it  was  decided  that  we  should  not  attempt 
to  force  upon  the  Governor  legislation  for  which 
he  would  not  stand,  and  that  might  provoke  a 
quarrel  that  would  imperil  party  success  in  the 
State  contest  of  1902  and  national  conflict  of  1904. 

I  thought  then,  and  I  still  believe,  that  a  State 
police  would  have  remedied  much  of  the  evils 
from  which  many  of  the  cities  have  suffered.  I 
thought  then,  and  I  still  think,  that  one  of  the 
greatest  mistakes  Governor  Odell  ever  made  was 
to  oppose  State  supervision  of  the  police.  I  have 
noticed  that  the  effort  I  made  years  ago  to  have 

429 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

legislation  enacted  providing  for  this  is  being 
again  agitated.  I  hope  that  ultimately  it  will  pre- 
vail. The  remarkable  achievements  of  the  State 
Excise  Department,  in  raising  revenue  and  enforc- 
ing the  law,  so  far  as  its  limited  number  of  inspec- 
tors is  concerned,  proves  that  State  supervision  is 
correct  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory.  I  doubt 
very  much  if  the  police  problem  will  ever  be  solved 
until  the  State  takes  hold  and  solves  it  by  making 
the  various  departments  subsidiary  to  the  govern- 
ment at  Albany. 

ERECTION  OF  A  MACHINE  TO  CRUCIFY  ME 

Evidence  continued  to  multiply  that  Odell  was 
building  up  a  machine  of  his  own.  But  I  "sat 
tight"  and  kept  almost  daily  denying  that  there 
was  any  friction  between  us,  merely  to  prevent 
party  division.  Well  into  the  second  year  of  his 
term  it  was  apparent  to  everybody  that  the  Gov- 
ernor had  deliberately  planned  to  assume  the  party 
leadership.  He  consulted  with  me  now  and  thenr 
but  went  back  to  Albany  and  did  things  that  were 
not  according  to  my  views.  He  distributed  patron- 
age among  his  allies  and  ignored  the  requests  of 
my  friends.  I  still  kept  silent,  being  unwilling  to 
lend  myself  to  any  movement  that  might  cause 
such  disasters  as  we  suffered  in  1882,  1884  and 
1891. 

During  the  fall  of  1902,  a  revolt  against  the  re- 
nomination  of  Odell  was  fomented  by  members  of 

430 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

my  "Old  Guard."  I  quelled  it.  I  did  advise  the 
Governor  that  he  would  commit  a  mistake  in  run- 
ning again,  considering  the  temper  of  the  party. 
True,  he  had  proved  a  most  excellent  executive 
and  had  to  his  credit  the  abolition  of  the  direct 
tax  and  other  laws  which  proved  popular  with 
the  people.  Indeed,  some  independent  newspapers 
proclaimed  him  the  best  Governor  the  State  ever 
had.  I  noticed,  however,  that  the  newspapers  that 
had  always  grilled  me  were  most  fulsome  in  their 
praise  of  the  Governor. 

Long  before  the  State  convention,  which  had 
been  called  for  September  23,  1902,  at  Saratoga, 
the  renomination  of  Odell  was  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion. The  question  that  confronted  us  then  was 
who  should  be  the  candidate  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  Timothy  L.  Woodruff,  who  had  served 
under  Black,  Roosevelt  and  Odell,  announced  his 
reluctance  to  run  a  fourth  time.  Six  months  prior 
to  the  convention,  President  Roosevelt  had  sug- 
gested to  me  that  George  R.  Sheldon,  banker, 
Union  League  Club  member  and  a  Republican  of 
the  highest  character,  would  be  an  admirable  suc- 
cessor to  Woodruff.  Odell  and  I  talked  it  over, 
and  we  agreed  that  the  President's  choice  was  a 
capital  one.  A  few  days  before  the  convention, 
Odell,  Woodruff,  Black  and  a  number  of  the  other 
leaders  met  at  Sheldon's  New  York  home.  A  for- 
mal compact  was  made  to  support  Sheldon  for 
Lieutenant-Governor.  We  all  offered  our  con- 
gratulations to  Sheldon.  Inasmuch  as  the  remain- 

431 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

der  of  the  incumbent  Republican  State  officers 
were  to  be  renominated,  I  looked  for  merely  a 
ratification  meeting  at  Saratoga.  I  little  dreamed 
that  we  were  in  for  a  sensational  struggle  that  all 
but  lost  us  the  State. 

SHELDON   ASSAILED 

I  started  for  the  convention  city  on  Sunday, 
September  20.  Aboard  the  train  I  read  an  in- 
terview with  William  Berri,  proprietor  of  the 
Brooklyn  Standard  Union,  and  the  bosom  friend 
of  Woodruff,  savagely  attacking  Sheldon.  Berri 
accused  Sheldon  of  identification  with  the  whisky, 
shipbuilding  and  other  trusts,  and  proclaimed  that 
it  would  be  a  calamity  to  nominate  such  a  man  for 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

I  was  more  than  provoked.  On  reaching  Sara- 
toga, I  sent  for  Woodruff  and  Berri  and  insisted 
upon  their  explaining  why  they  assailed  Sheldon, 
particularly  after  Woodruff  had  espoused  Shel- 
don's cause. 

Woodruff  disclaimed  responsibility  for  the  on- 
slaught upon  Sheldon.  Berri  affirmed  the  inter- 
view, and  insisted  that  the  party  would  court  de- 
feat should  a  man  with  Sheldon's  corporation  rec- 
ord be  placed  on  the  ticket.  I  frankly  told  Mr. 
Berri  that  I  disagreed  with  him.  Then  I  turned 
to  Woodruff  and  said:  "You  and  I  pledged  our 
support  to  Sheldon  at  the  New  York  conference. 
Whatever  you  do,  I  shall  stand  by  that  pledge." 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Woodruff,  who  I  suspected  might  have  been 
secretly  urged  by  Berri  to  become  a  candidate, 
again  protested  that  he  was  for  Sheldon  and  would 
stick  by  him  to  the  finish.  I  sent  for  Sheldon.  I 
asked  him  what  truth  there  was  in  Berri 's  state- 
ment. 

"Just  this,"  replied  Sheldon.  "I  was  instru- 
mental, some  time  ago,  in  reorganizing  the  Stand- 
ard Distributing  Company,  an  alcohol  concern.  I 
finished  the  job  in  four  months.  I  had  no  knowl- 
edge then,  nor  have  I  now,  that  the  concern  was  or 
is  a  part  of  the  so-called  whisky  trust.  Anyway, 
I  have  been  out  of  it  for  a  long  time." 

' '  That  is  sufficient,  George.  I  shall  stand  by  you 
if  no  other  delegate  to  this  convention  does.  I 
never  failed  yet  to  fulfil  a  pledge,"  I  answered. 

Sheldon  was  so  exasperated  that  he  sought  out 
Woodruff,  charged  him  with  having  inspired  false- 
hood, and  denounced  him  for  pretending  to  be 
loyal  to  him  (Sheldon)  while  playing  for  a  re- 
nomination.  This  Woodruff  denied,  and  reaffirmed 
his  promise  to  support  Sheldon. 

Throughout  the  day  and  night  I  was  employed 
in  rounding  up  delegates  who  had  read  the  Berri 
statement,  and  who  expressed  fears  that  it  had 
been  instigated  by  Woodruff.  By  midnight,  how- 
ever, things  had  quieted  down,  and  I  retired  con- 
vinced that  the  flurry  was  over  and  that  Sheldon 
would  be  nominated. 

A  part  of  my  time  the  following  day  was  de- 
voted to  consultation  about  the  platform.  Lou. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

F.  Payn,  who  had  been  removed  by  Governor 
Roosevelt  as  Superintendent  of  Insurance,  led  a 
movement  formed  to  defeat  any  pledge  of  support 
to  Eoosevelt  for  a  renomination  to  the  Presidency 
in  1904.  We  mollified  Payn  and  his  followers  with 
a  plank  reading  thus : 

"We  look  to  the  renomination  of  President 
Eoosevelt  in  1904,  and  pledge  ourselves,  so  far 
as  it  lies  within  our  power,  to  do  what  we  can 
to  secure  that  renomination." 

Payn  swallowed  this  more  agreeably  than  he 
would  an  original  plank,  instructing  the  New  York 
delegation  to  support  Eoosevelt  through  thick  and 
thin. 


ODELL   ESPOUSES   THE   ANTI-SHELDON   CAUSE 

With  Monday  night  came  the  main  body  of  the 
Odell  men.  The  Governor's  father,  his  brothers, 
Postmaster  Hiram  B.  Odell,  of  Newburgh,  and 
Prof.  C.  B.  Odell,  of  Columbia  University;  Kail- 
road  Commissioner  Joseph  E.  Dickey;  Congress- 
men Lucius  N.  Littauer  and  George  F.  Smith; 
Senators  Nathaniel  A.  Elsberg  and  Elon  E. 
Brown,  and  others,  worked  like  nailers  to  shelve 
Sheldon,  and  insisted  that  either  Senator  Frank 
W.  Higgins,  of  Cattaraugus,  or  Horace  White, 
of  Onondaga,  be  named  for  Lieutenant-  Governor. 
The  answer  they  got  was  in  the  shape  of  pledges 
to  Sheldon  at  caucuses  of  the  New  York  and 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

enough  other  delegations  to  make  his  nomination 
certain. 

The  Governor's  relatives  and  friends  then 
rushed  to  the  telephones  and  besought  the  Gov- 
ernor at  Albany  (who  had  assured  me  he  would 
not  attend  the  convention  because  he  believed  it 
would  appear  indelicate)  to  come  to  Saratoga  and' 
' i  save  himself. ' ' 

There  was  no  one  to  be  saved,  and  no  one  was 
in  danger.  But  the  Governor's  immediate  friends 
so  worked  upon  his  fears  that  he  boarded  a  special 
train  and  dashed  into  Saratoga,  late  on  Tuesday 
afternoon.  A  delegation  of  his  admirers  met  him 
at  the  station  and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to 
ignore  me,  take  the  bit  in  his  teeth,  throw  Sheldon 
overboard  and  name  his  own  ticket. 

SHELDON'S  RETIREMENT  DEMANDED 

The  Governor  replied:  "Wait  until  I  see 
Senator  Platt." 

I  was  in  consultation  at  my  United  States  Hotel 
cottage  with  Senator  Depew,  former  Governor 
Black,  Chairman  Morris,  of  the  New  York  Repub- 
lican Committee,  Colonel  George  W.  Dunn,  Ed- 
ward Lauterbach  and  other  leaders,  when  Gov- 
ernor Odell  burst  in  upon  us.  I  affected  surprise,, 
and  said: 

"Why,  Governor,  your  presence  here  astonishes 
me.  You  said  you  would  not  attend  the  conven- 
tion. Pray,  what  brings  you  here?" 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  Governor  flushed  a  bit  and  replied:  "I 
came  because  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with  mes- 
sages protesting  against  the  nomination  of  Shel- 
don for  Lieutenant-Governor.  If  it  is  true  that  he 
is  identified  with  the  whisky  trust,  he  ought  not  to 
go  on  the  ticket. ' ' 

"Your  apprehensions  are  groundless.  These 
stories  have  been  invented  by  Kings  County  men 
who  want  Woodruff  renominated.  We  have  dis- 
counted them,  and  Sheldon  will  be  nominated,7' 
was  my  response. 

"But  these  protests  came,  not  alone  from  Kings 
County,  but  from  all  over  the  State.  No  candi- 
date connected  with  a  trust  can  be  elected, "  urged 
Odell. 

"Why,  Eoosevelt  and  yourself  picked  Sheldon 
;six  months  ago.  Sheldon  is  your  friend, ' '  was  my 
retort. 

"Yes,  Sheldon  is  my  friend,  but  I  knew  noth- 
ing of  his  candidacy  until  I  read  an  interview  with 
you,  declaring  that  he  would  make  a  good  man 
for  my  running  mate. ' J 

"You  agreed  with  us  in  New  York  that  he  would 
do,  did  you  not?"  I  asked. 

"I  did  not  know  all  I  know  now.  I  guess  I'll 
go  and  see  my  friends  upstairs,"  replied  Odell,  as 
he  started  for  the  door. 

"What  friends?  Are  you  not  with  friends 
here?"  I  queried. 

"Yes,  but  my  father,  brothers  and  friends  from 
my  home  county  delegation  are  upstairs,  and  I 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

would  like  to  talk  with  them,'7  responded  Odell 
as  he  went  out. 

"Yon  are  foolish,  Ben,  to  fight  Sheldon, "  put 
in  former  Governor  Black.  "You  will  be  elected,, 
anyway, ' '  he  added. 

ODELL  THREATENS  WITHDEAWAL 

"I  don't  propose  to  risk  it.  I  will  withdraw 
myself  before  I  run  on  the  ticket  with  Sheldon. 
I  will  take  Higgins,  White  or  even  Woodruff, " 
roared  Odell. 

"But  "Woodruff  cannot  be  nominated.  He  is 
acting  under  the  advice  of  foolish  friends.  The 
people  will  not  tolerate  the  confiscation  of  an  office 
by  a  man  who  has  had  it  three  times.  Now,  keep 
your  agreement  with  Sheldon,  as  I  shall,  Ben,"  I 
added  affectionately. 

"I  shall  make  Sheldon  withdraw,"  was  Odell 's 
obstinate  reply. 

"I  shall  refuse  to  be  a  party  to  that,"  I  re- 
sponded. 

Odell  hurried  to  rejoin  his  friends  at  the  Orange 
County  headquarters. 

After  several  hours'  consultation  with  them,  he 
returned  to  me.  He  reiterated  his  determination 
not  to  run  if  Sheldon  were  to  be  his  companion 
on  the  ticket,  and  formally  demanded  that  I  with- 
draw my  support.  I  again  declined. 

Sheldon  was  sent  for.  As  he  met  Odell,  he  ex- 
claimed, in  tones  of  mingled  grief  and  indignation :. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

"I  never  would  have  been  a  candidate  except  for 
requests  made  by  you  and  the  President.  I  never 
sought  this  nomination.  But  now  that  I  am  in  the 
fight,  I  purpose  to  stick." 

Then  turning  to  me,  Sheldon  asked:  "Do  you 
request  me  to  withdraw,  Senator  V 

"I  do  not,"  I  replied.  "I  pledged  you  my  sup- 
port, and  you  will  have  it  just  so  long  as  you  are 
ra  candidate,  George,"  I  added. 

"The  popular  belief  is  that  you  are  in  the 
whisky  trust,"  suggested  Governor  Black. 

"That  is  not  true,"  answered  Sheldon.  Then 
addressing  Governor  Odell,  he  continued:  "If  it 
will  add  one  vote  to  your  majority,  I  will  gladly 
comply  with  your  request  to  withdraw." 

Until  nearly  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  ar- 
gument went  on.  Finally  Sheldon  went  over  to  a 
desk,  wrote  out  a  formal  decimation  and  handed  it 
to  me. 

I  said:  "George,  I  did  not  ask  this.  You 
have  done  this  without  my  advice  or  request.  I 
am  still  for  you,  and  will  see  you  through.  You 
did  this  of  your  own  free  will?" 

"I  certainly  did,"  answered  Sheldon  tearfully. 
Then  seizing  me  by  both  hands,  Sheldon  ex- 
« claimed:  "And  God  bless  you  for  your  faithful- 
ness to  me!" 

Before  we  went  to  bed  that  morning,  we  all 
agreed  upon  Frank  W.  Higgins  for  Lieutenant- 
governor. 

The  next  morning  Woodruff  called  upon  me 
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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

and  suggested  that  Norman  S.  Dike,  of  Kings,  be 
named  for  Secretary  of  State. 


MY  EEBUKE  TO  WOODRUFF 

I  was  very  much  provoked  at  Woodruff,  chiefly 
because  he  permitted  his  friends  to  boom  him  for 
a  place  against  Sheldon,  and  also  because  he  re- 
fused to  frankly  say  that  he  would  not  permit  his 
name  to  go  before  the  convention.  When  he  asked 
me  to  see  that  Dike  was  named,  I  guess  I  lost  my 
temper,  for  I  replied:  "Not  by  a  damned  sight! 
I  am  amazed  that  you  should  ask  this  after  what 
happened  last  night.  John  F.  O'Brien  will  be 
nominated  for  Secretary  of  State.  And  I  shall 
expect  you  and  your  Kings  County  delegates  to 
support  him." 

O'Brien  was  nominated  and  Woodruff  and  his 
Kings  men  did  support  him. 

Denial  of  the  nomination  to  Sheldon,  a  general 
suspicion  that  Odell  had  sought  to  set  up  shop 
for  himself,  his  refusal  to  approve  a  plan  for  or- 
ganization of  the  New  York  Police  Department  on 
State  lines,  combined  with  the  casting  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  illegal  ballots  in  the  metropolis,  cut 
down  our  splendid  plurality  of  the  two  years  be- 
fore to  a  little  more  than  8,000. 

Certain  of  Odell 's  intimate  associates  accused 
friends  of  mine  of  contributing  to  the  opposing 
vote.  That  charge  was  absolutely  unwarranted. 
Personally,  I  exerted  myself  as  I  rarely  had  to 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

make  sure  of  the  reelection  of  Governor  Odell,  and 
my  friends  were  as  faithful  to  him  as  men  could 
be  to  one  of  their  own. 

Odell  himself,  misled  by  stories  carried  to  him 
by  supposed  confidants,  apparently  believed  that 
sonfe  of  my  friends,  particularly  in  the  Greater 
New  York,  where  Bird  S.  Coler,  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  Governor,  secured  the  unprecedented 
plurality  of  122,000,  had  been  recreant.  Under 
this  misguided  notion,  he  ousted  leaders  who  had 
served  us  both  acceptably,  and  installed  in  their 
places  allies  whom  he  preferred.  Thus  was  Will- 
iam Halpin  made  chairman  of  the  Eepublican 
County  Committee  in  place  of  M.  Linn  Bruce,  who 
was  as  loyal  an  official  as  ever  held  a  place. 

I  had  a  different  theory  from  that  of  Odell  as  to 
why  he  had  received  so  comparatively  meager  a 
vote  in  the  Greater  New  York.  I  maintained  that 
the  Tammany  police  winked  at  election  frauds, 
and  that  Odell  was  the  victim  of  many  thousands 
of  crooked  votes.  I  so  told  Odell.  While  he  was 
inclined  to  agree  with  me  in  a  measure,  he  insisted 
upon  continuing  his  reorganization  of  the  New 
York  County  Committee. 

PLOT  TO  DEFEAT  MY  RETURN  TO  THE  SENATE 

During  December,  1902,  there  developed  a 
secretly  conducted  campaign  to  prevent  my  return 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  Some  of  OdelPs 
friends  were  behind  it.  A  number  of  them,  nota- 

440 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

bly  Senators  Edgar  T.  Brackett,  Elon  R.  Brown 
and  Nathaniel  A.  Elsberg,  urged  the  Governor  to 
clinch  his  hold  on  the  leadership  by  putting  me  out 
of  the  Senate,  taking  the  seat  himself  and  placing 
Lieutenant-Governor  Higgins  in  charge  of  the 
State  government. 

Odell  persistently  denied  to  me  that  he  at  any 
time  had  designs  upon  my  Senatorial  chair,  or 
that  he  ever  encouraged  the  idea  that  I  should  not 
be  reflected. 

I  had  no  desire  to  go  back  to  Washington.  But 
when  I  was  informed  that  the  same  cliques  that 
had  tried  to  stop  my  election  in  1897  were  attempt- 
ing to  combine  on  any  one  but  myself,  I  concluded 
to  permit  my  name  again  to  go  before  the  Re- 
publican Legislative  caucus  in  January,  1903. 

Had  there  been  any  organized  Odell  or  other 
formidable  plan  to  defeat  me,  it  did  not  demon- 
strate its  strength  at  the  caucus.  Brackett, 
Brown  and  Elsberg  did  exert  themselves  to  beat 
me  with  Elihu  Root,  then  Secretary  of  War.  Their 
effort  proved  abortive.  None  of  these  Senators 
participated  in  the  caucus.  I  was  unanimously  re- 
nominated,  and  finally  received  the  vote  of  every 
Republican  legislator  in  the  joint  Legislative  ses- 
sion, against  John  B.  Stanchfield,  the  Democratic 
candidate. 

I  took  comparatively  little  interest  in  the 
Mayoralty  campaign  of  1903.  I  was  more  con- 
cerned about  the  State  and  nation  than  the  city. 
My  friends  acquiesced  in  the  renomination  of 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Mayor  Low,  but  I  had  no  confidence  that  he  could 
be  reflected.  He  had  proved  himself  a  mugwump, 
and  many  Eepublicans  declared  their  preference 
for  an  out-and-out  Tammany  Mayor  to  one  of  the 
mugwump  gender.  I  believed,  from  the  moment 
Colonel  George  B.  McClellan  was  nominated  by 
the  Democrats  he  would  win.  And  he  did  by  a 
large  plurality. 

I  had  devoted  myself  to  making  sure  of  a  Ee- 
publican  majority  in  the  Assembly,  and  my  efforts 
were  crowned  with  success. 

A  BUGLE  CALL  TO  THE  "OLD  GUABD" 

During  the  campaign,  but  more  particularly 
after  election,  reports  came  to  me  that  my  oppo- 
nents planned  a  complete  reorganization  of  the 
Legislature,  and  the  dethronement  of  President 
pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  Eaines  and  Speaker  Nixon. 
I  resolved  to  put  my  foot  down  hard.  On  Christ- 
mas eve  I  sent  out  a  letter  to  members  of  the 
"Old  Guard,"  which  read  like  this: 

Please  drop  in  to  see  me,  either  at  No.  49  Broad- 
way or  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  any  day  or  night 
before  January  4th. 

T.  C.  PLATT. 

This  was  accepted  as  a  bugle  call  for  the  re- 
sumption of  the  "  Sunday-schools. "  And  my 
battle-scarred  allies  responded  with  fervor.  I  is- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sued  a  most  pressing  request  to  Governor  Odell  to 
join  us.  He  ignored  it.  Until  after  New  Year's 
day  I  was  constantly  in  consultation  with  leaders 
from  every  section  of  the  State.  Over  one  hundred 
of  them  were  in  my  company.  I  frankly  informed 
them  that,  first,  I  favored  the  nomination  of  Theo- 
dore Eoosevelt  for  the  Presidency.  They,  with 
few  exceptions,  lined  up  behind  me  on  that  propo- 
sition. Then  I  sounded  them  as  to  the  availa- 
bility of  Timothy  L.  Woodruff  to  succeed  Gov- 
ernor Odell.  There  was  division  over  this,  but  I 
avowed  myself  as  favorable  to  Woodruff's  nomi- 
nation and  was  assured  that  I  would  have  all  the 
help  I  needed  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  State 
ticket  of  1904. 

Later  it  was  agreed  that  Speaker  Nixon  should 
be  reflected  Speaker  of  the  Assembly;  Colonel 
Archie  E.  Baxter,  clerk ;  and  that  John  Eaines  and 
not  George  E.  Malby  should  lead  the  Eepublican 
forces  on  the  Senate  floor. 

Odell  had  been  reported  to  be  arranging  to  put 
out  Nixon  with  Edwin  A.  Merritt,  Jr.,  or  some 
other  friend,  and  supplant  Eaines  with  Malby. 
Among  those  who  pledged  themselves  to  reinforce 
me  in  the  program  I  have  just  outlined  were  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Higgins,  Senator  Depew,  Timo- 
thy L.  Woodruff,  Senator  Eaines,  Speaker  Nixon, 
Sereno  E.  Payne,  Eepublican  leader  of  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives ;  General  James  S.  Clarkson, 
Collector  of  the  Port  N.  N.  Stranahan ;  Postmaster 
Cornelius  Van  Cott,  of  New  York;  Postmaster 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

George  E.  Eoberts,  of  Brooklyn;  Superintendent 
of  Banks  Frederick  D.  Kilbnrn;  Frank  S.  Wither- 
bee,  Charles  S.  Francis,  Colonel  John  T.  Mott, 
Senators  Wilcox,  Allds,  McKinney  and  Kmm; 
Assemblymen  Eogers,  Cocks,  and,  indeed,  a  ma- 
jority of  members  of  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature ;  Michael  J.  Dady,  Fred  Greiner,  Eobert  H. 
Hunter,  M.  Linn  Bruce,  James  S.  Whipple,  W.  C. 
Warren,  Colonel  George  W.  Dunn,  George  E. 
Sheldon,  Lou  F.  Payn,  Archie  D.  Sanders,  and 
others  who  had  been  associated  with  me  in  the 
conduct  of  organization  affairs. 

Almost  from  the  moment  that  the  news  of  the 
conference  became  circulated  the  plot  to  deprive 
my  friends  of  control  of  the  Legislature  ceased. 
Eaines,  Nixon  and  Baxter  all  retained  their  offices, 
and  Governor  Odell  and  his  followers  offered  no 
opposition  to  the  adoption  of  the  Legislature  com- 
pact concurred  in  at  the  New  York  conference. 

ODELL  SUPPLANTS  DUNN 

Had  any  one  been  skeptical  as  to  whether  Odell 
still  purposed,  if  he  could,  to  assume  the  State 
boss-ship,  all  doubt  must  have  been  dissipated 
when,  during  January  of  1904,  he  secretly  con- 
ducted a  canvass  of  the  State  Committee  as  to  how 
they  felt  about  putting  Colonel  George  W.  Dunn 
out  and  himself  in  as  chairman.  I  had  made  Odell 
chairman  originally.  He  had  resigned  when 
elected  Governor,  in  favor  of  a  man  who  had  in- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

troduced  him  to  me,  when  he  was  begging  for  a 
place  on  the  State  Committee — a  man  who  had 
been  my  devoted  lieutenant  for  forty  years. 
Dunn's  sole  offense  was  that  he  had  been  faithful 
to  me,  when  I  had  differed  with  the  Governor  on 
questions  of  party  and  organization  policy. 

Colonel  Dunn,  who  was  chairman  of  the  State 
Eailroad  Commission,  heard  one  day  that  his  place 
was  wanted.  He  boldly  entered  the  Executive 
Chamber  and  said:  "Governor,  I  hear  you  are 
after  the  State  Committee  chairmanship." 

Odell  nervously  answered:  "Oh,  that's  all 
newspaper  talk." 

"Well,  you  are  welcome  to  the  job  any  time 
you  wish  to  take  it,"  persisted  Dunn. 

"Don't  want  it.  I  have  enough  troubles  here." 
was  Governor  OdelPs  reply. 

But  rumors  that  the  Governor  contemplated  a 
clean  sweep  of  my  friends  in  office  and  in  places 
of  authority  in  the  organization  continued  to  be 
prevalent.  They  included  a  plan  for  the  removal 
of  Frank  M.  Baker,  and  the  installation  of  a  suc- 
cessor who  would  insure  to  the  Governor  control 
of  the  Eailroad  Commission.  I  was  fortunate  in 
saving  Baker,  but  very  soon  after  he  had  been 
retained  it  developed  that  Odell  was  still  deter- 
mined to  oust  State  Chairman  Dunn.  I  apprised 
Odell  of  what  I  had  learned,  and  admonished  him 
that  he  as  Governor  would  commit  a  stupendous 
blunder  if  he  seized  and  performed  the  duties  of 
the  chairmanship,  and  thus  appropriated  the  sole 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

management  of  the  party.  Odell  newspapers 
and  admirers  were  most  pronounced  in  their  con- 
demnation of  his  contemplated  act.  And  when, 
despite  remonstrances,  he  made  known  his  inten- 
tion to  supplant  Dunn,  I  prophesied  that  it  was 
the  beginning  of  his  political  downfall,  and  so  it 
proved. 

I  AM  AGAIN  PROCLAIMED  LEADER 

It  was  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  conference,  Sunday, 
March  20,  1904,  that  Odell  formally  made  the  de- 
mand for  Colonel  Dunn's  head.  Dunn,  wearied 
with  heckling  and  bickerings,  despite  my  protests, 
declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  reelection  to  the 
chairmanship.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  my 
friends  should  offer  no  opposition  to  Odell  taking 
Dunn's  seat,  if  Odell  publicly  acknowledged  me  as 
State  leader.  This  pledge  was  reduced  to  writing. 
Here  it  is : 

At  a  conference,  held  this  afternoon,  between 
Senator  Platt,  Governor  Odell,  Colonel  Dunn  and 
many  other  prominent  Bepublicans,  it  was,  after  a 
full  exchange  of  views,  and  after  statements  by 
both  the  Senator  and  the  Governor,  unanimously 
agreed  that  Senator  Platt  should  remain,  as  he 
has  been  in  the  past,  the  active  leader  of  the  party. 

It  was  further  agreed  that  the  Governor  should 
be  elected  as  the  chairman  of  the  State  Committee 
to  be  chosen  at  the  approaching  State  convention 
in  April. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

It  was  further  agreed  that  wherever  there  were 
local  contests  for  leaderships,  there  should  be  no 
interference  in  favor  of  or  against  any  one,  either 
by  Platt  or  Odell. 

New  York,  March  20, 1904. 

This  compact  was  the  result  of  all-day  consul- 
tations, one  of  the  features  of  which  was  the  cere- 
monial offer  of  the  State  chairmanship  to  Odell 
by  a  committee  headed  by  Senator  Depew. 

DEPEW  JS  APPEAL  FOB  HARMONY 

Depew  thus  addressed  the  Governor:  "We 
have  come  to  you  in  no  spirit  of  anger  or  of  excite- 
ment. We  are  on  the  eve  of  a  great  political  year. 
If  common  report  be  anything,  there  is  serious 
trouble  between  you  and  the  aged  Senator  Platt. 
If  there  is  a  breach,  we  appeal  to  you,  as  loyal 
Eepublicans,  to  assist  us  in  healing  it. 

"If  there  are  differences,  we  come  to  you  with 
the  hope  that  we  may  reconcile  them.  We  know 
your  strength.  We  acknowledge  that,  if  you  wish, 
you  have  the  power  of  relegating  Senator  Platt 
to  a  position  of  subserviency  rather  than  the  dis- 
tinguished leader  he  has  been  for  so  long,  and  to 
whom  the  party  is  under  so  many  obligations  for 
the  masterful  manner  in  which  he  has  conducted 
campaigns,  won  elections  and  strengthened  the 
party  in  places  where,  before  his  leadership,  it 
was  weak. 

447 


CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW  ELIHU   ROOT 

FRANK  S.  BLACK 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

"We  come  to  you  to  say  we  will  be  perfectly 
willing  for  you  to  become  the  chairman  of  the 
State  Committee.  Colonel  Dunn,  the  chairman, 
honestly  wishes  to  retire.  He  sounded  his  friends 
to-day,  and  he  has  said  repeatedly  he  would  not 
stand  for  reelection. 

"Therefore,  in  order  that  there  may  be  har- 
mony, we  ask  you  to  publicly  acknowledge  the 
State  leadership  of  Senator  Platt,  and  in  turn  he 
will  ask  his  friends  to  make  your  election  to  suc- 
ceed Colonel  Dunn  unanimous.  It  is  with  you  to 
say  how  far  these  bickerings  and  quarrels  may  go 
on,  before  they  lead  to  defeat.  You  may  be  suc- 
cessful in  the  State  convention,  but  have  you  reck- 
oned with  the  polls  in  November,  and  when  the 
counting  is  done  after?" 

Governor  Odell  answered:  "I  have  felt  to- 
day, while  a  Eepublican  caucus  was  going  on  at 
this  hotel,  and  I  not  in  it,  like  a  cat  in  a  strange 
garret.  I  assure  you  and  your  honorable  com- 
mittee that  I  have  never  disputed  the  leadership 
of  Senator  Platt.  I  am  willing  to  make  any  con- 
cession that  lies  within  my  power  to  make,  to  as- 
sure him  of  my  loyalty  to  him,  to  acknowledge  him 
as  the  head  of  the  Eepublican  party  in  New  York 
State,  and  to  bow  to  his  wishes  in  affairs  where 
our  affairs  are  at  issue.  I  accept  your  tender  of 
the  chairmanship  of  the  committee,  and  am  ready 
to  serve  you  in  any  manner  you  may  designate." 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


MY  GRAVE   UNDUG 

There  appeared  in  one  of  the  New  York  papers 
the  following  morning  this  comment:  "The  his- 
torian of  the  future,  who  writes  the  story  of  this 
wonderful  man's  wonderful  political  life,  will  be 
compelled  to  say  that  on  the  20th  of  March,  1904, 
Sunday,  at  an  hour  when  thousands  were  at 
religious  worship,  Senator  Platt  was  in  his  room 
undigging  the  grave  that  Odell  had  made  for  him, 
and  at  a  later  hour  sent  for  the  grave-diggers,  and 
showed  them  the  spot,  all  covered  over  and  patted 
down,  the  grass  put  back  and  the  head  and  foot 
stones  removed  entirely  from  sight.  The  historian 
will,  too,  perhaps,  be  constrained  to  add:  'For 
the  thirteenth  time,  strange  to  say,  the  Senator 
emerged  from  political  burial  stronger  than  ever 
before.'  " 

In  the  words  of  my  brethren,  I  can  only  say 
"Amen"  to  this.  Odell  was  unanimously  elected 
State  chairman  at  the  convention  which  met  in 
Carnegie  Hall,  April  12.  I  was  unanimously 
chosen  to  head  the  delegation  to  the  National  Con- 
vention, called  to  meet  at  Chicago,  in  June.  Sena- 
tor Depew,  Governor  Odell  and  Frank  S.  Black 
were  other  members  of  the  i  i  Big  Four. ' ' 

The  only  contest  of  importance  at  the  State  Con- 
vention was  about  iron-clad  pledges  to  support 
Koosevelt  for  the  Presidential  nomination.  I  in- 
sisted upon  this  resolution : 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

We  "instruct"  the  representatives  of  New  York 
State,  in  the  national  council  of  the  party,  to  pre- 
sent the  candidacy  of  Theodore  Eoosevelt  for 
President  of  the  U.  S.  and  use  all  honorable  means 
to  bring  about  his  nomination. 

Odell  contended  that  the  word  "request"  should 
be  substituted  for  "instruct."  We  ultimately  com- 
promised on  "direct,"  and  both  were  satisfied. 

The  platform  praised  me  thus :  '  *  The  Republi- 
can party  acknowledges  with  gratitude  the  splen- 
did services  of  the  senior  Senator,  Thomas  C. 
Platt,  who  for  more  than  quarter  of  a  century  has 
stood  stalwart  and  firm  in  the  battle  for  Republi- 
can supremacy,  and  whose  leadership  has  been  in- 
spiring and  potent  in  the  accomplishment  of  Re- 
publican success." 

BOOSEVELT  AND  FAIKBANKS  NOMINATED 

The  nomination  of  President  Roosevelt  had  be- 
come inevitable  long  before  we  went  to  Chicago, 
where  the  National  Convention  was  to  meet  June 
21.  The  question  of  paramount  consequence 
was  who  should  be  the  candidate  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  I  had,  a  month  in  advance  of  the  convention, 
publicly  declared  myself  for  my  Senatorial  col- 
league, Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  of  Indiana.  He 
was,  in  my  judgment,  the  best  type  of  the  Western 
Republican  we  could  select.  He  had  the  party  of 
his  home  State — a  very  doubtful  one  in  many  cam- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

paigns — solidly  behind  him.  Indeed,  at  the  time 
I  question  if  there  was  a  more  popular  Republican 
in  the  Middle  West  than  Fairbanks. 

Eastern  men  seemed  to  have  gotten  a  false  im- 
pression of  Fairbanks.  His  opponents  sought  to 
create  an  impression  that  he  was  as  frigid  a  propo- 
sition as  John  Sherman.  But  he  wasn't.  No  more 
affable  a  gentleman  ever  occupied  a  post  of  honor 
in  this  or  any  other  government.  He  was  big- 
hearted,  had  a  head  chock  full  of  gray  matter,  and 
made  friends  and  few  enemies  wherever  he  went. 

Governor  Odell,  soon  after  I  professed  Fair- 
banks my  preference  for  Vice-President,  an- 
nounced himself  for  Speaker  Joseph  G.  Cannon, 
of  Illinois.  He  endeavored  to  pledge  the  New 
York  delegation  to  " Uncle  Joe."  En  route  to  Chi- 
cago, Odell  induced  Senator  Depew  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  Cannon.  Fairbanks  greatly  embarrassed 
us  by  declining  at  first  to  let  us  present  his  name. 
June  19,  however,  he  confided  to  me,  during  a  pro- 
longed conference,  that  he  was  "in  the  hands  of 
his  friends. " 

ODELL  *S  CANNON  BOOM  SQUELCHED 

The  New  York  caucus  met  that  night.  By  that 
time,  Speaker  Cannon  had  either  become  satisfied 
that  Fairbanks  was  certain  to  be  nominated,  or 
that  he  himself  did  not  desire  to  run.  Anyway,  the 
Speaker  announced  that  he  would  not  allow  his 
name  to  go  before  the  convention.  This  left  noth- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ing  for  Odell,  Depew  and  other  supporters  of  the 
Speaker  to  do  but  climb  on  the  Fairbanks  wagon. 
They  did  this,  and  the  New  York  delegation, 
unanimously  electing  me  its  chairman,  authorized 
me  to  cast  its  entire  vote  for  the  Hoosier  states- 
man. It  also  deputized  me  to  hand  in  its  united 
vote  on  all  questions  before  the  convention.  That 
ended  friction  for  a  while,  though  there  was  a 
contest  on  for  National  Committeeman.  George  R. 
Sheldon,  who  had  been  so  ruthlessly  handled  as  a 
candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor  in  1902,  re- 
fused to  be  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself  as  Na- 
tional Committeeman.  I  had  no  candidate.  The 
fight  was  then  between  William  L.  Ward,  of  West- 
chester,  and  William  C.  Warren,  of  Erie.  Ward 
finally  won.  New  York  was  honored  through  the 
selection  of  Elihu  Eoot  for  temporary  chairman 
of  the  convention.  He  delivered  a  speech  that  was 
pronounced  the  ablest  of  the  very  able  ones  that 
ever  fell  from  his  lips.  It  was  hardly  surpassed 
by  that  of  former  Governor  Black,  who  placed 
President  Roosevelt  in  nomination  for  a  second 
term.  A  hurricane  of  cheers,  consuming  twenty 
minutes — a  record-breaker  then — followed  Black's 
presentation  of  Roosevelt's  name.  The  nomina- 
tion was  made  by  acclamation,  amidst  the  wildest 
scenes  of  enthusiasm. 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


DOLLIVER'S  TKIBUTE  TO  ME 

Senator  John  P.  Dolliver  presented  the  name  of 
Senator  Fairbanks  for  Roosevelt's  running  mate. 
His  address  was  most  eloquent.  In  the  midst  of  it 
he  turned  toward  me,  and  touched  me  deeply  by 
exclaiming:  "Before  I  proceed,  I  wish  to  pay  my 
tribute  to  Thomas  C.  Platt,  that  veteran,  sagacious 
and  peerless  leader  from  the  State  of  New  York, 
for  his  loyalty  to  the  principles  and  nominees  of 
the  Republican  party." 

This  pleased  not  only  me,  but  members  of  my 
"Old  Guard, "  mightily.  Fassett,  Dunn,  Woodruff, 
Higgins,  Eaines,  Payn  and  others  leaped  upon 
chairs  and  cheered  lustily.  New  York  delegates 
grasped  banners  and  paraded  about  the  hall.  In 
this  demonstration  they  were  joined  by  Pennsyl- 
vania and  other  delegates.  It  was  a  totally  unex- 
pected but  delightful  compliment,  which  I  sin- 
cerely appreciated. 

Fairbanks  was  ultimately  nominated  with  quite 
as  much  unanimity  as  was  Eoosevelt.  A  strong 
platform,  the  joint  production  of  the  President  and 
Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  of  Massachusetts, 
was  adopted.  Then  we  returned  to  our  homes, 
happy  and  sure  of  victory  for  the  national 
nominees. 

I  OFFER  THE  GOVERNORSHIP  TO  ROOT 

To  remove  the  slightest  doubt  about  holding  the 
electoral  vote  of  New  York  for  Eoosevelt  and 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Fairbanks,  I  urged  Elihu  Boot  to  take  the  nomina- 
tion for  Governor.  I  was  intensely  disappointed 
when  he  declined.  Then  I  pledged  myself  to  Timo- 
thy L.  Woodruff.  Since  the  1902  convention,  we 
had  resumed  our  former  cordial  relations.  I 
really  believed  that  Woodruff  would  prove  a  splen- 
did Governor,  and  that  Erastus  C.  Knight,  of 
Erie,  who  had  made  an  admirable  record  as  Comp- 
troller, should  be  our  candidate  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

I  had  selected  Woodruff  and  Knight,  after  a 
most  unequivocal  pledge  from  Governor  Odell  that 
he  had  no  candidate  for  Governor  or  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  and  that  he  did  not  purpose  to  take  an 
active  part  in  making  up  the  State  ticket. 

The  State  convention  was  called  for  Sara- 
toga, September  14.  I  went  there  a  few  days 
ahead,  as  had  been  my  custom.  Odell  was  there, 
and  had  assumed  command  of  his  auxiliaries.  I 
reiterated  to  the  Governor  my  previously  ex- 
pressed desire  for  the  nomination  of  both  Wood- 
ruff and  Knight. 

ODELL  ?S  DUPLICITY 

Odell  looked  perplexed.  Then  he  replied:  "I 
am  against  Woodruff  because  he  cannot  be  trusted. 
I  still  have  no  candidate.  But  I  suggest  that 
Lieutenant-Governor  Higgins  has  stood  long  with- 
out hitching. " 

"I  am  for  Woodruff  and  shall  expect  you  to  ful- 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

fil  your  pledge  to  keep  your  hands  off,"  was  my 
answer. 

While  Odell  kept  protesting  that  he  had  no  can- 
didate, his  friends  were  getting  behind  Higgins  for 
Governor,  and  booming  Francis  Hendricks,  Louis 
Stern,  George  Cromwell,  M.  Linn  Bruce,  and  about 
everybody  else  except  Knight  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

The  situation  became  acute.  In  the  midst  of 
the  contest,  Senator  Fairbanks,  who  had  just 
visited  President  Koosevelt,  appeared  at  Sara- 
toga. Some  were  of  the  impression  that  he  came 
to  act  as  a  mediator.  That  was  a  mistake.  I  had 
invited  him  to  address  the  convention.  And  he 
did.  He  very  properly  declined  to  give  advice  as 
to  the  nomination  of  a  ticket,  explaining  that  he 
would  not  presume  to  insult  New  York  Republi- 
cans by  even  hinting  whom  they  should  choose  for 
State  candidates. 

The  day  before  the  convention  met,  Governor 
Odell  called  upon  me  and  said :  "  I  have  called  a 
conference  for  four  o'clock  this  afternoon,  at 
which  we  shall  discuss  the  make-up  of  the  ticket. 
I  suppose  you  will  attend?" 

"Not  by  a  damned  sight!"  I  replied.  "You 
gave  me  your  word  that  you  had  no  candidate  for 
Governor.  Despite  this,  you  have  been  pledging 
delegates  you  control  to  Higgins.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, I  most  emphatically  decline  to  attend 
any  conference  called  for  the  purpose  you 
indicate." 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

The  Governor  pleaded  with  me  to  change  my 
mind.  I  told  him  again,  in  as  forcible  language  as 
I  could  command,  that  I  would  not.  Governor 
Odell  and  his  State  officers,  his  State  Committee- 
men,  and  others  whom  he  dominated,  held,  a  con- 
ference. It  decided  to  name  Higgins  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  Bruce  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  after 
Hendricks  had  declined  to  stand  for  second  place. 

HIGGINS  BEGS  MY  SUPPORT 

Higgins  visited  me  and  besought  my  indorse- 
ment. He  said:  "My  friends  have  asked  me  to 
stand  for  Governor.  I  have  concluded  to  do  so. 
I  expect  to  be  nominated  and  elected.  But  I  want 
a  unanimous  nomination.  To  get  it,  I  need  your 
support.  Can  I  have  it?" 

With  all  the  vigor  I  could  summon  I  answered: 
* '  No,  sir.  I  am  for  Woodruff.  I  have  pledged  my- 
self to  him,  and  shall  stick  to  him  to  the  finish." 

"I  am  very  sorry,  Senator,  but  I  very  much 
desire  your  support,"  urged  Higgins. 

"Well,  you  cannot  get  it  so  long  as  Woodruff 
is  a  candidate,"  I  replied. 

"Then  I  shall  have  to  go  into  the  convention  and 
fight  it  out  with  Woodruff,"  responded  Higgins. 

1 1  That  is  just  what  you  will  have  to  do, ' '  was  my 
reply. 

Governor  Odell  came  in  later  and  persisted  that 
I  join  his  conference.  I  again  refused,  saying: 
"I  am  told  that  you  and  your  friends  have  lined 

457 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

up  for  Higgins  and  intend  to  force  his  nomination 
to-morrow. ' ' 

"I  have  no  candidate.  My  choice  is  the  choice 
of  the  convention/'  answered  the  Governor 
evasively. 

* '  You  are  seeking  to  control  this  convention  and 
the  nominations,  though  you  promised  me  to  keep 
your  hands  off. ' ' 

"I  have  done  my  best  to  get  an  agreement.  I 
am  willing  to  argue  or  compromise,  but  I  will  not 
be  driven,"  defiantly  replied  Odell. 

"No  one  is  trying  to  drive  you.  I  have  merely 
asked  you  to  fulfil  your  promise  to  keep  your 
hands  off  and  let  the  convention  name  its  own  can- 
didates," I  rejoined. 

Governor  Odell  retired.  Late  that  night  he  offi- 
cially and  voluntarily  confirmed  my  statements  by 
publicly  proclaiming  himself  for  Higgins. 

KEPT  HANDS  OFF ' ' 

He  said :  "I  have  decided  to  announce  myself 
in  favor  of  Higgins  for  Governor.  I  have  kept  my 
agreement  until  now,  not  to  use  my  influence  for 
the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  my  can- 
didate." 

My  answer  was:  "I  shall  employ  all  the  influ- 
ence I  possess  to  nominate  Woodruff  for  Gov- 
ernor. The  Governor  has  just  notified  me  that  he 
would  do  all  in  his  power  to  nominate  Higgins. 
This  is  the  way  he  has  kept  his  hands  off." 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

I  stuck  to  Woodruff  until  he  arose  in  the  con- 
vention and  withdrew.  Had  he  not  surrendered, 
he  might  have  been  nominated. 


HIGGINS  AND  BEUCE   WIN 

fliggins  and  Bruce  were  nominated  for  Gov- 
ernor and  Lieutenant-Governor  respectively.  Otto 
Kelsey  was  named  for  Comptroller;  Julius  M. 
Mayer  for  Attorney-General;  John  D.  Wallen- 
maier  for  State  Treasurer;  John  F.  O'Brien  for 
Secretary  of  State ;  Henry  Van  Alstyne  for  Engi- 
neer and  Surveyor;  Edgar  M.  Cullen,  Democrat, 
and  William  E.  Werner,  Eepuhlican,  for  Justices 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

Higgins,  fine  man  that  he  was,  could  not  possi- 
bly have  been  elected,  except  for  the  tremendous 
plurality  Eoosevelt  scored  over  Parker,  the  Demo- 
cratic nominee  for  President.  That  Eoosevelt 
actually  carried  Higgins  and  his  mates  through, 
the  returns  showed. 

Eoosevelt  carried  the  State  by  175,552.  Hig- 
gins ran  nearly  100,000  behind  him,  defeating 
Herrick  by  80,560.  Had  it  not  been  a  Presidential 
year,  Higgins  would  have  been  snowed  under.  I 
have  always  believed  that  Woodruff  and  Knight 
would  have  done  far  better  than  Higgins  and 
Bruce  as  State  ticket  leaders. 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 


DEPEW  REELECTED  TO  THE  TJ.  S.  SENATE 

Immediately  after  the  election  of  1904,  Gov- 
ernor Odell  was  said  to  have  selected  Frank  S. 
Black  as  his  candidate  to  succeed  Chauncey  M. 
Depew  in  the  U.  S.  Senate.  Depew  was  very  anx- 
ious for  reelection.  And  I  was  quite  as  solicitous 
that  he  should  continue  my  colleague.  I  had  be- 
gun a  campaign  to  insure  this,  with  the  nomina- 
tion of  members  of  the  Legislature.  And  when 
election  figures  showed  a  large  Republican  ma- 
jority, in  both  Senate  and  Assembly,  I  assured 
Depew  he  need  have  no  apprehension  about  going 
back  to  Washington. 

Still,  we  both  kept  our  eyes  peeled  and  watched 
Odell  and  Black.  December  1, 1904,  the  Governor, 
through  a  friend,  announced  that  Black  was  his 
preference  for  Depew 's  seat.  He  called  a  con- 
ference of  his  Legislative  friends,  and  afterward 
sought  to  convince  me  and  others  that  he  had 
Depew  whipped.  I  disputed  with  him;  I  endeav- 
ored to  show  wherein  he  lacked  the  votes  necessary 
to  control  the  Eepublican  caucus.  Meantime,  I 
had  seen  President  Eoosevelt.  He  expressed  a 
profound  desire  that  Depew  should  be  returned. 
That  should  have  settled  it,  but  still  the  Black 
forces  labored  incessantly. 

A  few  days  before  the  caucus,  however,  there 
was  an  earnest  talk  between  the  Governor  and 
Edward  H.  Harriman,  who  then  wielded  some 
power  in  the  financial  world.  Harriman  in- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

duced  Odell  to  agree  to  withdraw  his  support  from 
Black  and  get  in  behind  Depew.  Just  what  hap- 
pened and  was  said,  when  the  Governor  notified 
Black  of  his  change  of  heart,  I  prefer  that  one  or 
the  other  should  relate.  Anyway,  there  was  no 
serious  opposition  to  Depew  in  the  Eepublican 
caucus  that  met  at  Albany  in  January,  1905,  and 
he  was  reflected  without  trouble  for  another  six 
years. 

During  the  nine  years  that  Depew  and  I  served 
as  colleagues  in  the  Senate  there  was  a  comrade- 
ship and  harmony  between  us  that  was  most  de- 
lightful. I  had  known  him  since  away  back  in 
1863. 

In  1864,  as  a  candidate  for  Secretary  of  State, 
he  carried  New  York  by  30,000,  though  two  years 
before  the  Democrats  had  swept  the  State.  I  knew 
him  better  in  1866,  when  President  Johnson,  after 
agreeing  to  appoint  him  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York,  tore  up  his  commission  because  Sena- 
tor Edwin  D.  Morgan  refused  to  sustain  his  veto 
of  the  civil  rights  bill.  I  grew  more  intimate  with 
Depew  when  he  became  attorney  for  and  after- 
ward president  of  the  Vanderbilt  system  of  rail- 
ways. 

It  was  with  pain  that  I  saw  him  take  a  nomina- 
tion for  Lieutenant-Governor  on  the  Greeley  ticket 
in  1872.  But  ever  after  that  he  was  a  straight-out 
organization  Eepublican. 

Depew  was  a  candidate  against  me  for  the  U.  S. 
Senate  in  1881,  but  withdrew  on  the  thirty-fourth 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ballot.  He  might  have  gone  to  the  Senate  in  1885, 
instead  of  William  M.  Evarts,  but  he  preferred  to 
retain  his  association  with  the  Vanderbilts.  He 
was  indorsed  for  President  by  the  New  York  dele- 
gation in  1888  as  a  favorite  son.  From  that  time 
he  was  my  associate  in  many  a  hard-fought  po- 
litical battle.  Depew  has  probably  delivered  more 
speeches  for  the  Eepublican  party  than  any  man 
living.  He  was  and  is  a  corking  stump  speaker. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  more  in  demand 
than  any  orator  I  recall. 

ROUT    OF    ODELL HUGHES    GOVERNOR 

I  was  a  distant  spectator  rather  than  a  partici- 
pant in  the  overthrow  of  Odell  at  Saratoga  in  Sep- 
tember, 1906.  President  Roosevelt  ran  the  con- 
vention that  met  there  and  named  Charles  E. 
Hughes  for  Governor  in  place  of  Frank  W.  Big- 
gins, who  was  so  ill  at  that  time  that  he  died  the 
following  February.  It  was  Roosevelt  who,  when 
it  seemed  likely  that  either  Eoot  or  Black  or  Bruce 
would  be  named,  simply  spoke  the  name 
"  Hughes. "  Whether  by  telephone,  telegram  or 
messenger,  it  does  not  matter.  And  Hughes  it 
was. 

It  was  Koosevelt  who  directed  that  Odell  should 
step  out  of  the  State  chairmanship  and  give  way 
to  Timothy  L.  Woodruff.  It  was  Koosevelt  who 
sent  Elihu  Eoot  into  New  York  State  to  save 
Hughes,  when  it  was  feared  that  William  E. 

462 


CHARLES  E.  HUGHES 
463 


5      The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Hearst,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor, 
would  defeat  him.  I  sorrowed  much  that  every 
other  Eepublican  candidate  on  the  ticket  except 
Hughes  was  beaten.  Bruce,  the  candidate  for 
Lieutenant-Governor,  had  made  a  most  worthy 
record  in  the  office.  I  should  like  to  have  seen  him 
promoted  to  the  Governorship. 

HUGHES,  THE  "HAKD  BOSS" 

As  for  Hughes,  he  is  too  much  of  an  idealist  to 
suit  me.  I  never  have  had  any  use  for  a  man  who, 
after  accepting  honors  from  his  party,  assumes 
to  be  bigger  and  better  than  the  party,  and  strives 
to  wreck  it.  I  never  saw  so  much  tyranny  and  in- 
tolerance exhibited  in  public  office  as  I  have  wit- 
nessed in  Hughes.  While  pretending  to  fight  boss- 
ism,  he  developed  during  his  first  term  as  the 
greatest  boss  that  ever  sat  in  the  Executive 
Chamber. 

Unlike  any  of  his  predecessors,  he  spurned  sug- 
gestions that  he  ought  to  consult  with  Legislative 
leaders  about  proposed  laws.  For  two  years  he 
arrogated  to  himself  both  Legislative  and  Execu- 
tive powers.  He  sought  to  make  two  hundred  men, 
elected  to  represent  respective  constituencies  all 
over  the  State,  mere  "rubber  stamps. "  From 
January  1,  1907,  to  January  1,  1909,  there  was  no 
Legislature  at  Albany. 

I  am  rejoiced  that  there  was  an  awakening, 
early  in  1909,  and  that,  led  by  John  Eaines  and 

464 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  the  law-makers  re- 
called that  they  were  sent  to  the  Senate  and  As- 
sembly to  speak  for  their  home  districts  and  not 
for  one  man  temporarily  clothed  with  Executive 
authority. 

If  I  have  been  an  "Easy  Boss,"  Hughes  has 
tried  to  be  a  "Hard  Boss." 

Dictatorship  will  never  be  tolerated  in  free 
America.  Its  exponents  may  sometimes  ride  into 
power,  but  when  they  fall  they  never  can  resurrect 
themselves. 


465 


From  left  to  right:  Edward  G.  Riggs,  W.  A.  Smyth,  Edward  Lauterbach, 

Geo.  W.   Dunn,   Albert  H.  Howe,  C.  H.  Murray,  R.  L.  Fox. 

Hamilton  Fish,   Thomas  Collier  Platt,  John  Raines. 

A  BIRTHDAY  PARTY 

466 


CHAPTER  XXII 

State  legislation  for  which  I  am  responsibl 
Tributes  from  "Old  Guard"  leaders — Excise, 
election,  corporation  and  rapid  transit  laws 
I  pushed — A  pioneer  in  subway  plans. 

UPON  my  final  retirement  from  the  U.  S.  Sen- 
ate, President  pro  tern,  of  the  State  Senate  John 
Raines,  Deputy  Comptroller  Otto  Kelsey,  and 
William  Barnes,  Jr.,  very  kindly  paid  me  tribute 
for  advancing  at  Albany  the  "best  constructive 
legislation  of  recent  years7'  while  I  was  at  the 
head  of  the  party  organization. 

Modesty  forbids  that  I  should  say  too  much 
about  the  influence  I  personally  wielded  in  having 
placed  upon  the  statute  books  many  of  the  laws 
which  a  majority  of  citizens  have  agreed,  I  be- 
lieve, resulted  in  great  benefit  to  them  and  the 
State.  Otto  Kelsey,  who  served  in  the  Legislature 
when  I  was  seeking  to  guide  the  organization 
forces  in  enacting  legislation,  testifies  that:  "To 
Mr.  Platt,  as  much  if  not  more  than  any  other 
man,  is  due  the  credit  of  pushing  through  the  pres- 
ent election  and  excise  laws.  Both  laws  stand  out 
as  among  the  best  the  State  has  ever  enacted,  and 
in  principle  they  will  probably  stand  for  years 
to  come." 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Senator  Eaines  has  publicly  given  his  approba- 
tion to  my  part  in  creating  the  Greater  New  York 
and  aiding  him  in  putting  through  the  excise  law 
that  bears  his  name. 


"A  SCORCHEB  OF  FAKEHS" 

Mr.  Barnes,  than  whom  there  is  no  cleverer 
politician  in  the  State  (Governor  Hughes'  opinion 
to  the  contrary),  commends  my  services  to  the  na- 
tion and  State  in  a  way  that  makes  me  blush.  He 
recently  wrote  a  criticism  of  Governor  Hughes, 
in  which  he  said : 

' '  The  life  of  the  people  should  not  be  made  one 
long  political  miasma.  Whatever  opinion  may  be 
now,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  clarity 
of  mind  which  was  shown  by  Thomas  C.  Platt  in 
the  affairs  of  the  State  will  be  recognized  for  its 
great  worth.  His  brain  was  so  simple  that  it 
sensed  without  study  what  was  meretricious ;  and 
despite  the  maddest  antagonism,  purely  because  of 
the  power  which  came  to  him  through  his  wisdom, 
he  protected  the  State  from  error  with  rare  in- 
telligence. He  scorched  the  faker  with  caustic 
irony ;  and  had  his  hand  been  as  free  as  his  hope, 
he  never  would  have  permitted  an  agitator  for 
political  advancement  to  have  passed  the  portal." 

The  genesis  and  putting  together  of  the  Greater 
New  York  have  already  been  described.  During 
the  Morton  administration  I  exerted  myself  to 
secure  to  the  State  the  best  excise  law  that  could 

468 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

be  contrived.  I  did  this  despite  the  fact  that  op- 
ponents of  any  radical  change  threatened  my  life 
in  such  a  brazen  manner  that  friends  insisted  upon 
employing  detectives,  day  and  night,  to  protect 
me.  I  did  this,  too,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  a 
very  formidable  faction  in  my  party  held  over 
my  head  threats  that  I  would  not  only  suffer  bod- 
ily harm,  but  surely  would  lose  the  leadership. 

As  in  other  cases  involving  political  and  legis- 
lative problems,  this  act  was  originally  considered 
at  what  was  then  known  popularly  as  the  "Sun- 
day-school," which  during  the  session  was  held 
almost  every  Sabbath  at  my  rooms  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel,  New  York.  There  the  leaders  of 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature  were  accustomed 
to  gather,  and  we  took  counsel  as  to  what  laws 
would  prove  most  beneficial  to  the  people  and 
the  State. 

EXCISE  LAW  ABUSES  CORRECTED 

At  the  time  each  city  had  a  local  excise  board. 
Neither  these  nor  the  police  seemed  able  to  en- 
force the  statutes  restricting  the  sale  of  liquor. 
Though  there  was  a  supposed  stringent  law 
against  the  sale  of  intoxicants  on  Sunday,  it  was 
constantly  violated.  Abundant  evidence  devel- 
oped that  the  police  were  under  the  pay  of  hotel 
and  saloon  keepers,  who  persisted  in  doing  busi- 
ness on  Sunday.  Taxes  supposed  to  be  exacted 
for  the  privilege  of  conducting  a  liquor  business 

469 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

were  openly  evaded.  The  revenues  were  ridicu- 
lously small,  and  it  became  a  notorious  fact  that 
this  kind  of  traffic  was  not  bearing  its  just  share 
of  the  expenses  of  maintaining  the  government. 

It  was  determined  at  conferences  of  the  Legis- 
lative leaders  and  myself  that  the  cities  having 
demonstrated  their  inability  to  control  the  traffic 
the  State  should  take  hold.  Senator  Eaines,  act- 
ing in  cooperation  with  myself  and  leaders  of  the 
Senate  and  Assembly,  framed  a  bill  creating  a 
State  excise  commission,  and  increasing  the  cost 
of  following  the  liquor  business.  At  first  there 
were  vehement  protests  from  various  quarters  of 
the  State.  The  brewers  and  liquor  dealers  banded 
together  to  defeat  the  proposed  legislation.  But 
the  organization  made  the  Eaines  bill  a  party 
measure,  and  it  was  put  through  the  Legislature. 
Governor  Morton  approved  the  bill.  And  I  think 
Mr.  Morton  will  agree  with  me  that  it  was  one 
of  the  crowning  acts  of  his  administration. 

A  SEVENTY  THOUSAND  DOLLAB  BKIBEEY  FUND 

The  Eaines  bill  was  passed  despite  the  raising 
and  offering  of  a  large  sum  of  money  to  members 
of  the  Legislature  to  vote  against  it.  Only  a  short 
time  ago  George  L.  Carlisle  told  about  it  in  the 
New  York  Times.  He  recited  the  confession  of  a 
lobbyist.  Carlisle  wrote: 

"When  we  were  seated,  he  said  he  would  show 
me  the  list — the  official  list,  as  it  were — giving 

470 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  names  of  those  who  had  come  to  an  agreement 
with  him  as  to  the  Kaines  bill  and  the  amount  each 
had  agreed  to  receive  and  vote  against  it.  Open- 
ing his  trunk,  he  thrust  his  hand  to  the  bottom, 
and  pulled  out  one  of  the  long  tally  sheets,  the 
kind  I  had  often  seen  used  in  the  House,  on  which 
the  names  of  all  the  members  were  printed  and 
also  two  column  spaces,  headed  'yea'  and  'nay,' 
for  recording  the  roll  calls. 

"It  had  figures  marked  against  at  least  half  of 
the  names.  He  handed  it  to  me,  saying,  in  sub- 
stance, that  it  showed  by  whom  the  Eaines  bill 
was  to  have  been  beaten,  and  the  figure  each  was 
to  have  received.  Glancing  at  it  hurriedly,  I  no- 
ticed the  amounts  ranged  from  $250  to  $10,000, 
and  that  there  were  two,  and  I  am  not  now  sure 
but  three,  at  the  larger  figure;  and  also  that  the 
total  was  something  over  $67,000.  Running  my 
eyes  quickly  over  the  names,  I  recall  being  not 
overwhelmed  with  surprise  as  to  the  most  of  them, 
but  reading  one  name,  I  pointed  at  it  and  re- 
marked with  a  gasp:  'What!  that  man!'  To 
which  he  listlessly  replied:  'Yes,  that  man.  Sit- 
ting right  where  you  do  and  across  this  table,  he 
agreed  to  vote  for  or  against  it  for  $500. J 

"I  pressed  him  to  tell  me  how  it  happened  that 
the  bill  passed,  notwithstanding  those  hostile 
preparations.  Much  of  his  explanation  was  mere- 
ly confirmatory  of  what  was  matter  of  common 
rumor  among  the  members.  It  appears  that  after 
finding  how  much  would  be  required  to  defeat, 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

$70,000  was  raised  among  the  brewers  throughout 
the  State,  with  Buffalo  as  the  center  of  operations ; 
that  the  money  was  brought  from  there  to  Albany, 
and  nothing  seemed  surer  than  that  the  Raines 
bill  was  doomed. 

6 1  But  they  had  reckoned  without  the  '  Easy  Boss, ' 
who  was  then  in  the  heyday  of  his  power.  He  had 
set  his  mind  upon  passing  the  bill — for  the  good 
of  the  party.  Learning  that  it  was  in  this 
jeopardy,  he  had  read  the  riot  act  in  certain  quar- 
ters, as  coming  direct  from  him,  threatening,  if 
the  bill  was  defeated,  a  whole  lot  of  criminal 
prosecutions  for  bribery  would  follow.  It  was 
enough.  The  only  thing  which  could  save  the  bill 
had  happened.  There  was  a  scattering.  The 
money  was  sent  back  to  Buffalo,  and  all  those 
graft  promises  were  off. 

"I  have  often  heard  the  'Easy  Boss'  cussed  and 
discussed — simultaneously,  as  a  rule — but  his  sav- 
ing the  Raines  bill,  with  its  high  license,  quieter 
Sunday  and  keeping  the  blinds-up  features,  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  particularly  meritorious,  for 
the  Raines  bill  in  its  inception  and  infancy  was 
considered  a  distinctly  moral  measure. 

"  Being  a  pretty  firm  believer  in  the  benevolent 
despot,  I  do  not  find  much  fault  with  the  boss 
system  per  se.  My  objection  to  bosses,  in  the  main, 
is  that  they  are  usually  of  such  poor  stuff. " 


472 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


BENEFICENT  RESULTS  OF  THE  NEW  LAW 

The  late  H.  H.  Lyman,  of  Oswego,  was  made  the 
first  Commissioner  of  Excise.  Under  his  regime 
the  chaotic  conditions  gradually  began  to  disap- 
pear. Capable  agents  were  appointed  for  the 
collection  of  the  tax  and  detecting  violations  of 
the  law.  They  proved  too  few,  and  more  were 
added.  Up  to  this  day,  in  my  judgment,  there  is 
not  a  sufficient  number  of  them,  and  I  have 
watched  for  and  urged  an  increase,  especially 
since  it  has  become  apparent,  from  a  nearly  thir- 
teen years'  trial,  that  the  local  police  do  not  en- 
force the  law  as  it  should  be  enforced. 

One  grand  result,  however,  has  been  accom- 
plished, and  that  is  a  tremendous  increase  in  the 
revenue  for  both  State  and  localities.  When  I 
look  at  the  aggregate  receipts  for  1907,  the  only 
available  figures  before  me  ($17,830,467.75),  half 
of  which  went  to  the  State  and  half  to  the 
it  seems  to  me  that  as  a  revenue  producer  the 
law  has  proved  a  remarkable  success.  It  was 
largely  due  to  the  taking  over  of  the  excise  de- 
partments by  the  State,  that  during  the  Odell  ad- 
ministration it  was  made  possible  to  do  away  with 
direct  taxation. 

The  so-called  Eaines  law  has  proved  so  satis- 
factory that  no  serious  attempt  has  ever  been 
made  to  repeal  it.  Our  political  opponents  at- 
tacked it  for  a  time  after  it  went  into  operation. 
But  when  it  proved  such  an  effective  revenue- 

473 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

getter  they  quit.    And  to-day  no  one  would  dare 
to  head  a  movement  for  its  repeal. 


RAINES'  EULOGIUM 


That  my  views  were  respected  and  appreciated 
at  Albany  during  the  controversy  over  the  amend- 
ments to  the  excise  law,  let  Senator  Eaines,  whose 
name  will  ever  be  linked  with  it,  testify.  In  his 
speech  closing  the  debate  in  the  Senate,  when  the 
original  act  was  on  its  final  passage,  Senator 
Baines  said:  "The  Democratic  party  has  told 
the  people  that  it  was  not  intended  to  pass  this 
bill ;  that  it  was  simply  a  scheme  of  the  man  whom 
they  designate  as  'Boss  Platt,'  to  compel  contri- 
butions to  the  Eepublican  campaign  fund.  It  be- 
gins to  dawn  upon  them  that  there  may  have  been 
a  slight  mistake  somewhere,  and  that  Thomas  C. 
Platt  is  not  the  man  they  took  him  for.  To-day 
every  Eepublican  in  the  State,  and  every  Demo- 
crat, too,  knows  and  has  no  doubt  about  it,  either,, 
that  whatever  influence,  be  it  greater  or  less,  the 
Eepublican  leader  may  have,  it  is  used  for  the 
passage  of  this  bill. 

"I  believe  that  no  labor  that  he  has  performed 
will  carry  with  it  more  beneficent  results  to  the 
party  to  which  he  belongs,  and  to  the  people  as 
well,  or  will  more  redound  to  the  honor  of  Thomas 
Collier  Platt,  than  his  efforts  to  secure  the  passage 
of  this  bill. 

"It  has  been  said  that  Senator  Miller  does  not 
474 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

favor  the  bill  because  the  tax  is  not  high  enough; 
and  I  admit  I  have  nowhere  seen  a  denial  of  this 
from  him,  though  I  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  state- 
ment. Other  gentlemen  have  been  reported  as 
objecting  to  it  because  it  does  not  meet  their  views 
in  some  slight  particular.  But  I  wish  to  remind 
them  that  the  years  are  before  us  in  which  amend- 
ments may  be  made,  if  experience  shall  show  them 
to  be  necessary.  To-day, i  a  condition,  not  a  theory, 
confronts  us/  And  I  appeal  to  my  Eepublican  col- 
leagues to  overlook  those  matters  in  which  the  bill 
may  not  be  in  accord  with  their  views,  and  give 
their  support,  as  being  a  measure  for  the  relief  of 
the  overburdened  taxpayers  of  the  State ;  a  meas- 
ure in  the  interest  of  the  honest  toilers  and  their 
dependent  families;  a  measure  in  the  interest  of 
temperance,  and  which,  whatever  its  defects  may 
be,  is,  taken  as  a  whole,  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  people,  whose  welfare  is  the  supreme  law." 

The  amendments  came  from  time  to  time  in 
the  years  that  followed.  Originally  the  act  pro- 
vided that  the  locality  should  realize  two-thirds 
of  the  total  revenue,  while  the  State  should  take 
one-third.  During  the  first  administration  of 
Governor  Odell  it  was  determined  that  there 
should  be  an  equal  division  between  the  State  and 
the  localities,  and  that  there  should  be  an  increase 
in  the  cost  of  the  liquor  tax  certificate,  so  that  the 
people  could  get  rid  of  direct  taxation.  This  plan 
finally  prevailed,  and,  as  I  have  heretofore  stated, 
chiefly  because  of  it,  the  State  has  since  1902  had 

475 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

no  direct  taxes  to  pay,  though  it  is  building  a 
hundred-million-dollar  barge-canal  and  is  setting 
aside  five  millions  a  year  for  the  improvement  of 
highways. 

TBEMENDOUS    REVENUE    PRODUCED 

Senator  Eaines  predicted  at  the  time  the  legis- 
lation was  under  consideration,  that  not  only  would 
the  cities  which  at  first  protested  most  vigorously 
against  what  they  characterized  as  robbery  for  the 
benefit  of  up-country  districts  and  a  violation  of 
the  principle  of  home  rule,  realize  many 
times  their  present  revenue,  with  a  consequent 
reduction  in  taxes,  but  that  the  net  reduction  in 
the  number  of  liquor  resorts  would  be  great. 
Raines'  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled.  The  net  re- 
ceipts from  licenses  in  1895,  the  year  before  the 
new  law  went  into  effect,  in  thirty-one  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  and  towns,  aggregated  $3,423,493. 
Raines  estimated  that  under  the  legislation  con- 
templated, the  total  amount  of  receipts  for  the 
State  would  reach  $13,793,425,  if  the  same  num- 
ber of  liquor  dispensaries  continued.  Figuring 
that  the  number  would  be  reduced  by  40  per 
cent.,  he  calculated  that  the  net  revenue  would  be 
at  least  $8,275,925,  $5,500,286  of  which  was  to  go 
to  the  localities  and  $2,754,851  to  the  State. 

The  cities  contended  that  Eaines  did  not  know 
what  he  was  talking  about.  That  even  he  did  not 
realize  what  a  stupendous  addition  would  be  made 

476 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

to  the  revenue,  eventually  was  disclosed  by  the 
official  reports  of  the  State.  Under  the  old  law, 
according  to  returns  for  1896,  the  net  revenues  in 
localities  where  licenses  were  issued,  aggregated 
only  $2,921.62 ;  a  year  later,  under  the  new  law,  the 
net  revenues  reached  $10,449,829.84.  For  the  year 
1897-98  there  were  $11,373,489.37;  for  1898-99, 
$11,379,465.73;  1899-1900,  $11,432,636.25;  1900-01, 
$11,435,963.98;  1901-02,  $11,485,212.40;  1902-03, 
$11,694,521.57. 

The  50  per  cent,  increase  in  the  tax  ordered 
in  1902,  which  put  an  end  to  direct  taxation, 
pushed  the  annual  receipts  for  1903-04  to  $16,643,- 
595.90;  for  1904-05,  $16,730,829.70;  1905-06,  $17,- 
043,201.30;  1906-07,  $17,489,316.42;  and  1907-08, 
$17,830,467.75.  The  State's  share  of  this  was  $9,- 
087,757.36,  while  that  of  the  localities  was  $8,742,- 
710.39.  New  York  City,  which  received  in  1895 
only  $1,631,120  from  license  fees,  realized  $3,773,- 
471.88  in  1907-08.  Kings  (Brooklyn),  which  got 
only  $879,950  in  1895,  got  $1,713,837.20  in  1907-08. 
Buffalo,  whose  net  receipts  in  1895  were  but  $321,- 
260,  realized  the  greater  part  of  $666,673.13,  ap- 
portioned to  Erie  County. 

So  much  for  the  revenue-producing  qualities  of 
the  excise  law.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who  be- 
lieve in  restricting  the  number  of  resorts  where 
liquor  is  sold,  let  me  say  that  during  the  first  year 
the  Raines  law  became  operative,  6,588  places 
were  driven  out  of  business.  The  number  of 
licenses  reported  in  force  April  30,  1896,  aggre- 

477 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

gated  33,437.  The  number  of  liquor  tax  certifi- 
cates in  force  April  30,  1907,  under  the  new  law. 
was  27,192. 

TO  STOP  NEW  YORK'S  ILLEGAL  VOTING 

It  was  during  the  Morton  administration,  too, 
that  the  initial  steps  were  taken  to  secure  ballot 
reform.  Out  of  them  grew  the  prevailing  secret 
system  of  voting  which  has  been  amended  some- 
what, but  still  retains  many  of  its  original 
features.  Prior  to  the  enactment  of  this  legisla- 
tion, which  was  also  drawn  at  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel  "  Sunday-school, ' '  and  introduced  by  the 
late  Lieutenant-Governor  Charles  T.  Saxton  and 
later  amended  by  Senator  Eaines,  there  were  cries 
from  all  over  the  State  that  New  York  elections 
were  the  most  fraudulent  and  corrupt  that  could 
be  conceived.  While  this  may  have  been  somewhat 
true  as  affecting  the  city  of  New  York,  where  evi- 
dence was  produced  that  from  25,000  to  40,000 
crooked  Democratic  votes  were  cast  at  each  con- 
test, I  never  believed  that  the  same  accusations 
could  be  successfully  maintained  against  the  coun- 
try districts. 

The  Democrats,  particularly  from  the  metropo- 
lis, bitterly  fought  the  Saxton  and  later  the  Raines 
acts,  intended  to  perfect  the  former.  But  by  a 
party  vote  of  both  houses,  the  ballot  reform  bills 
were  passed,  and  Governor  Morton  signed  them. 
While  no  law  that  can  be  enacted  can  be  regarded 

478 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

as  absolutely  perfect,  I  sincerely  believe  that  the 
election  laws  of  this  State  are  as  practicable  and 
insure  as  honest  voting  and  counting,  if  enforced, 
as  any  in  the  world. 

To  Senator  Eaines  is  due  the  full  credit  for  the 
present  blanket-ballot.  It  has  insured  not  only 
secrecy  as  to  how  a  man  votes,  but  has  reduced 
immeasurably  the  number  of  crooked  votes,  not 
only  in  New  York  City,  but  in  the  State  at  large. 

STATE    SUPERVISION    OF    ELECTIONS 

To  the  credit  of  the  Black  administration  must 
be  ascribed  the  creation  of  the  State  Bureau  of 
Elections.  The  revelations  of  the  Lexow  and 
Mazet  committees  disclosed  how  incompetent  and 
in  league  with  election  knaves  were  the  Tammany 
police.  I  concluded  that  if  we  could  not  have  a 
State  police,  we  would  at  least  put  a  State  curb 
on  franchise  roguery.  So  soon  after  Governor 
Black  assumed  office,  there  was  enacted  a  law, 
creating  a  State  Superintendent  of  Elections,  with 
authority  to  enforce  the  statutes  framed  to  give 
the  people  an  honest  ballot  and  fair  count. 

John  McCullagh,  who,  because  of  his  sincere 
endeavor  to  root  out  Deveryism,  had  been  removed 
as  Chief  of  Police  by  Mayor  Van  Wyck,  was  the 
first  head  of  the  State  Bureau.  With  the  estab- 
lishment of  it,  frauds,  while  not  actually  wiped 
out,  were  greatly  diminished.  Had  McCullagh 
been  retained  long  enough  to  completely  organize 

479 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

his  bureau,  I  believe  that  less  crimes  against  the 
election  franchise  would  have  been  committed  than 
happened  after  his  decapitation,  during  the  second 
term  of  the  Odell  administration. 

Odell  added  the  bureau  to  his  political  machine 
by  putting  out  McCullagh,  a  stanch  friend  of  mine, 
and  substituting  George  W.  Morgan.  I  did  not 
notice  any  wholesale  detection  of  registration  or 
election  rascality  during  the  Morgan  regime.  Nor 
have  I  discovered  any  great  improvement  in  the 
conduct  of  the  bureau  under  the  Hughes  govern- 
ment. With  a  fearless,  competent  chief,  the  elec- 
tion bureau  could  be  made  a  terror  to  the  election 
thug.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  have 
proved  so  had  Mr.  McCullagh  been  retained. 

A  PIONEER  IN  RAPID  TRANSIT  PROJECTS 

With  no  intent  of  detracting  from  the  perform- 
ances of  others,  I  shall  have  to  admit  that  I  was 
among  the  pioneers  seeking  to  provide  genuine 
rapid  transit  for  New  York  City.  My  attention 
was  first  called  to  the  problem  during  the  last 
term  of  Governor  HilPs  administration,  which  ter- 
minated in  1891. 

A  scheme  was  brought  to  me  that  had  been  thor- 
oughly worked  up  by  competent  engineers  and 
statisticians.  The  result  of  their  work  was  sub- 
mitted to  me  in  the  form  of  elaborate  reports  upon 
every  phase  of  the  question.  I  was  very  much 
impressed  by  the  information  contained  in  one 

480 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  these  reports  with  reference  to  the  increase  of 
travel  up  and  down  town,  and  the  absolute  neces- 
sity for  providing  additional  facilities  of  the  most 
comprehensive  character  to  take  care  of  the  same. 
I  became  convinced  that  simply  keeping  abreast 
of  the  normal  increase  of  such  travel  made  it  nec- 
essary to  furnish  new  facilities  each  year  adequate 
to  take  care  of  twenty  million  passengers,  ten  mil- 
lion each  way.  I  also  learned  that  this  meant  the 
construction  of  four  new  tracks  every  four  or  five 
years.  These  figures  were  presented  to  me  as 
furnishing  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  elevated  structures ;  but  on  mature  re- 
flection I  reached  the  conclusion  that  they  fur- 
nished the  strongest  kind  of  an  argument  against 
the  proposition  which  I  was  asked  to  favor,  be- 
cause they  demonstrated  that  the  solution  of  the 
difficulty  proposed  was  wholly  inadequate  and  a 
mere  makeshift.  For  this  reason,  and  because  I 
knew  that  there  was  very  strong  and,  as  I  be- 
lieved, justifiable  opposition  to  further  encroach- 
ment upon  the  city's  streets  by  elevated  struc- 
tures, I  refused  to  lend  my  support  to  the  scheme 
proposed.  But  during  the  consideration  of  the 
subject  my  eyes  had  been  opened  to  the  impor- 
tance of  finding  some  solution  of  the  rapid  transit 
problem. 

I  therefore  began  to  consider  the  subway 
question. 

The  most  serious  difficulty  about  securing  pri- 
vate capital  for  the  construction  of  subways  at 

481 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  time  was  the  sharp  difference  of  opinion 
among  competent  engineers  as  to  the  cost  of  con- 
structing subways,  the  most  doubtful  item  being 
the  cost  of  earth  excavation.  All  kinds  of  esti- 
mates were  given  of  the  cost  of  such  excavation, 
varying  between  $7  and  60  cents  per  cubic  yard. 
The  reason  for  such  a  wide  difference  of  opinion 
was  that  each  engineer  had  in  mind,  in  making  his 
estimate,  a  different  manner  of  doing  the  work. 
The  low  man  proposed  to  do  the  work  by  open 
trench,  the  high  man  by  "cut  and  cover. "  The 
low  man  paid  no  attention  to  the  rights  of  the 
owners  of  sub-surface  structures;  the  high  man 
included  a  liberal  allowance  to  cover  the  expense 
of  maintaining  such  structures. 

INITIAL  RAPID   TRANSIT   BOARD 

After  listening  to  a  great  many  opinions,  vary- 
ing all  the  way  between  extreme  pessimism  and 
extreme  optimism,  I  reached  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  important  that  the  Legislature  should  take 
steps  to  secure  the  appointment  of  a  Commission 
on  Rapid  Transit.  A  bill  to  accomplish  this  ob- 
ject was  introduced  by  Senator  Fassett,  about  the 
close  of  Governor  Hill's  last  term.  The  general 
subject  was  discussed  with  the  Governor  and  his 
friends,  prior  to  the  introduction  of  this  bill,  and 
I  assumed  that  the  bill  would  be  supported  by 
them.  In  its  early  stages  it  received  a  kind  of 
lukewarm  support  from  them,  but  at  last  they 

482 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

opposed  it  vigorously.  It  passed  the  Senate  as  a 
Republican  caucus  measure,  but  was  defeated 
in  the  Assembly  by  two  or  three  votes,  owing  to  the 
revolt  of  Messrs.  Gibbs  and  Fish.  Later,  however, 
a  bill  became  law,  which  gave  us  the  first  Rapid 
Transit  Commission  that  really  began  the  build- 
ing of  underground  railways. 

Although  my  first  attempt  to  secure  subways 
for  New  York  was  defeated,  I  did  not  lose  my  in- 
terest in  the  subject,  and  I  have  continually  since 
that  time  done  what  I  could  to  bring  about  sub- 
way construction,  because  I  am  as  sure  as  I  can 
be  of  anything  that  the  growth  and  prosperity  of 
the  city  are  dependent  thereon. 

The  transit  question  with  us  is  made  particu- 
larly difficult  of  solution  because  of  the  shape  of 
Manhattan  Island,  and  the  fact  that  the  most  im- 
portant business  interests  are  located  at  or  near 
the  point  of  the  leaf. 

Although  I  have  been  an  earnest  advocate  of 
subways,  I  have  never  approved,  and  I  do  not  now 
approve,  of  the  investment  of  public  moneys 
therein,  except  upon  terms  and  conditions  which 
entirely  eliminate  the  possibility  of  loss.  Pres- 
sure will  always  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  city 
authorities  to  build  with  public  moneys  subways 
to  be  used  in  the  development  of  suburban  lo- 
calities, whether  the  conditions  are  sufficiently  fa- 
vorable to  attract  private  capital  or  not. 


483 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


CITY  WILL  ULTIMATELY  OWN  SUBWAYS 

The  plan  embodied  in  the  present  Eapid  Transit 
Act,  which  in  effect  gives  to  subway  promoters 
the  benefit  of  the  city's  credit,  without  subjecting 
the  city  to  any  danger  of  ultimate  loss,  if  carried 
out  in  a  broad-minded  and  intelligent  way,  will, 
within  a  period  of  time  short  in  the  life  of  a  great 
city  (fifty  to  seventy-five  years),  put  the  city  in 
the  possession  and  ownership  of  a  magnificent 
system  of  subways,  for  which  not  a  single  dollar 
of  public  money  will  have  been  expended.  This 
plan  was  first  suggested  by  Mayor  Hewitt,  in  a 
speech  made  by  him  before  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. Mr.  Hewitt's  views  were  received  with 
genuine  enthusiasm.  They  were  supported  by  a 
popular  vote,  and  the  admirable  commission  of 
experienced  business  men  appointed,  known  as 
the  Orr  Commission,  for  many  years  received 
general  support  from  both  political  parties  and 
from  the  press. 

I  think  of  my  old  friend,  Commodore  Starin, 
and  the  splendid  work  done  by  him.  He  has  lately 
passed  away,  full  of  years  and  honors.  I  am 
sorry  that  he  is  not  here  to  read  this  article.  Mr. 
Orr,  Mr.  Smith,  Mr.  Eives,  and,  in  fact,  all  the 
commissioners  who  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
building  of  the  subway  system  now  in  operation, 
the  McAdoo  tunnels  and  the  Pennsylvania  ex- 
tension, are  also  entitled  to  the  highest  praise 
from  their  fellow  citizens  for  their  painstaking 

484 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

and  intelligent  work  in  the  public  interest.  The 
direct  and  indirect  advantage  to  the  city  from  this 
work,  viewed  simply  from  the  standpoint  of  dol- 
lars and  cents,  without  considering  the  greatly 
increased  comfort  of  the  traveling  public,  must  be 
measured,  not  by  millions,  or  even  tens  of  mil- 
lions, but  bv  hundreds  of  millions. 

TRANSIT    CHECKED    BY    LEGISLATION 

Rapid  transit  progress  has  been  temporarily 
checked  by  the  provisions  of  the  Elsberg  bill,  the 
Public  Service  Commissions  bill,  and  the  unfriend- 
ly attitude  of  the  New  York  public  toward  rapid 
transit  promoters.  While,  of  course,  with  the  in- 
formation which  we  now  have,  it  may  be  possible 
to  make  better  terms  with  contractors  and  lessees 
than  those  made  by  the  late  Eapid  Transit  Com- 
mission with  John  B.  McDonald,  it  must  be  clear 
to  every  thinking  man : 

First,  that  unless  a  proposed  subway  is  suffi- 
ciently important  to  attract  private  capital,  it 
ought  not  to  be  built;  and  second,  that  nothing 
worth  doing  is  to  be  accomplished  until  the  minds 
of  responsible  promoters  and  the  city's  represen- 
tatives meet  on  some  comprehensive  and  feasible 
plan  of  improvement. 

Beckoning  without  your  host  is  a  sorry  busi- 
ness, and  if  a  commission  is  so  dignified  that  its 
activities  are  limited  to  public  hearings  and  news- 
paper discussion,  it  may  produce  a  most  volumi- 
nous record  of  its  proceedings,  but  it  will  build', 
no  new  subways. 

485 


J.   SLOAT  FAS  SETT  MARK  A.  HANNA 

MATTHEW  S.  QUAY 


CHAPTER  XXHI 

The  "Amen  Corner" — Distinguished  men  with 
whom  I  have  played  political  battledore  and 
shuttlecock  there — Presidents,  Governors, 
U.  S.  Senators  and  other  influential  office- 
holders selected  in  the  nook — Depew's  and 
my  farewell  addresses  at  the  "wake." 

FEW  spots  have  ever  been  more  hallowed  to 
me  than  the  "Amen  Corner. " 

For  the  benefit  of  the  uninitiated,  let  me  say 
that  this  was  a  celebrated  niche  in  the  corridor 
of  the  old  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  where  from  the 
day  this  hostelry  opened  its  doors  in  1859,  until 
1908,  sat  the  most  distinguished  men  of  this  and 
other  countries. 

A  newspaper  friend,  the  late  W.  J.  Chamber- 
lin,  of  the  New  York  Sun,  gave  it  its  name  in  a 
cleverly  written  sketch  some  years  before  he  fell 
at  the  post  of  duty,  after  reporting  the  Boxer  re- 
bellion in  China.  I  assume  that  he  adapted  it 
from  Thackeray's  description  of  the  Amen  Cor- 
ners in  Old  England's  churches. 

On  two  benches,  sometimes  covered  with  green, 
and  sometimes  with  red  plush,  leaders  of  political, 
literary  and  social  thought,  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
were  accustomed  to  exchange  their  views.  Many  a 

487 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Governmental  policy  and  many  a  candidate  for 
office  have  been  determined  upon  in  the  nook  whose 
history  has  for  almost  a  decade  been  commemo- 
rated by  a  series  of  annual  dinners.  A  complete 
list  of  the  illustrious  personages  with  whom  I  have 
swapped  opinions  in  the  "  Corner "  would  proba- 
bly tax  this  entire  volume.  They  include  Presi- 
dents, Vice-Presidents,  Governors  and  other  State 
officers,  National  and  State  legislators,  mayors, 
financiers,  army  and  navy  officers,  professional 
men  of  every  type,  to  say  nothing  of  foreign  po- 
tentates, like  the  present  King  of  England. 

PBESIDENTS  WHO  HAVE  LOLLED  THERE 

I  have  consulted  there  with  Presidents  Lincoln, 
Grant,  Hayes,  Garfield,  Arthur,  Harrison,  McKin- 
ley  and  Eoosevelt,  and  with  James  G.  Elaine,  who 
ought  to  have  been  President.  I  have  listened 
there  to  tales  of  sanguinary  battles  from  the  lips 
of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Meade, 
Burnside,  McDowell,  Kearney,  Kilpatrick,  Fur- 
long, Johnston,  Longstreet  and  other  Union  and 
Confederate  Hectors. 

On  one  of  these  benches,  Koscoe  Conkling  and 
myself  used  to  plan  our  campaigns.  It  was  there 
that  we  talked  over  our  offensive  and  defensive 
contests  between  Kepublicans  and  Democrats, 
Stalwarts  and  Half-breeds.  It  was  there  that 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  support  Elaine  for  Presi- 
dent in  1884,  and  Harrison  in  1888.  It  was  there 

488 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

that  Quay,  Clarkson,  Alger,  Fessenden  and  myself 
concluded  in  1892  to  uphold  Elaine  and  not  Harri- 
son. In  the  same  place  I  pledged  Morton  my  sup- 
port for  Governor  in  1894  and  for  President  in 
1896. 

It  was  in  this  "Corner"  that  Roosevelt  and  I 
joined  one  another  after  we  had  in  my  private 
apartments  decided  that  he -should  be  my  candi- 
date for  Governor  in  1898.  And  it  was  there  that 
the  program  to  make  him  Vice-President  and  ulti- 
mately President  was  contrived. 

It  was  in  the  same  pews  that  members  of  my 
Sunday  political  school  class  used  to  assemble  be- 
fore and  after  the  sessions  in  my  rooms.  And 
it  was  there  that  the  preliminary  plans  were  laid 
for  all  the  vital  legislation  enacted  at  Albany  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

On  one  of  these  settees,  Frank  Hiscock,  Chaun- 
cey  M.  Depew  and  myself  were  practically  deter- 
mined upon  for  United  States  Senators  in  1887, 
1897  and  1899,  respectively.  On  one  of  them  Gen- 
eral Benjamin  F.  Tracy  was  first  suggested  for 
Mayor  of  New  York  in  1897.  While  seated  there 
I  received  the  news  of  the  election  of  William  L. 
Strong  and  Seth  Low,  the  only  Eepublicans  elected 
Mayor  of  New  York  since  the  seventies. 

Not  all  the  "Ameners"  have  been  Eepublicans, 
however.  Non-partisanship,  so  far  as  it  had  to 
do  with  occupying  the  benches,  except  on  stated 
days  for  Republican  conferences,  was  ever  one  of 
the  cardinal  principles  of  the  brethren. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

"Uncle  Sammy"  Tilden,  Arthur  Pue  Gorman, 
and  Calvin  S.  Brice  were  frequent  visitors  to  the 
"  Corner. "  John  Kelly,  Kichard  Croker  and 
Charles  F.  Murphy,  the  Tammany  leaders;  and 
Senator  Patrick  H.  McCarren,  the  Kings  County 
Democratic  leader,  have  lolled  upon  the  cushions 
and  played  political  battledore  and  shuttlecock 
with  myself  and  other  Eepublicans. 

What  tales  those  benches  could  recite  had  they 
the  power  of  speech !  Indeed,  they  could  give  one 
the  most  accurate  history  of  the  politics  of  this 
State,  and  much  of  that  of  the  nation  since  Fort 
Sumpter  was  fired  upon. 

MY  LAST  PEKCH  ON  THE  BENCH 

The  last  time  I  occupied  one  of  the  benches  was 
during  the  "wake"  ceremonies  of  April  4,  1908. 
Then,  with  Senator  Depew  and  Chairman  Wood- 
ruff, of  the  Republican  State  Committee,  flanking 
me,  my  portrait  was  taken,  and  we  all  made 
speeches  and  drank  a  last  glass  together  with 
"Old  Guardsmen."  When  the  Fifth  Avenue  was 
dismantled,  the  benches  were  carefully  installed  in 
the  Hoffman  House  corridor. 

I  never  could  bring  myself  to  squat  there.  I 
prefer  to  fondly  recall  the  traditional  lounging 
place  where  the  arbiters  of  the  fortunes  of  both 
political  parties  met  on  fair  terms  and  inaugu- 
rated or  settled  contests,  and  then  rehearsed  them 
all  over  again. 

490 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

It  was  a  day  of  mourning  when  the  dear  old 
Fifth  Avenue  was  obliterated.  Those  who  will 
hand  down  unscathed  to  our  children  and  to  our 
children's  children,  the  benches  we  loved  so  much, 
will  receive  the  blessing  of  one  whom  the  boys 
have  repeatedly  told  me  is  "The  Original 
Amener. ' ' 

Perhaps  I  cannot  more  appropriately  close  this 
chapter  than  to  quote  from  speeches  delivered  by 
myself  and  Senator  Depew  at  the  "wake."  I 
confess  there  were  tears  in  my  eyes,  and  I  repeat- 
edly choked  as  I  tried  to  say : — 


Any  effort,  the  very  slightest,  to  express  what 
I  feel  at  the  thought  of  the  removal  of  the  his- 
toric landmark  which  was  my  home  for  all  of 
thirty-three  years,  would  compel  me  to  take  my 
seat  in  silence,  so  I  must  avoid  that  subject  and 
assume  a  cheerfulness  which  I  have  not  got.  This 
noble  edifice,  in  its  day  one  of  the  most  imposing 
in  our  city,  even  now  in  its  majestic  simplicity  is 
good  to  look  at.  It  is  the  privilege  of  elderly  gen- 
tlemen, to  which  distinction  I  may  soon  aspire,  to 
resent  the  rude  way  that  progress  has  of  turning 
things  upside  down;  and  although  the  structure 
which  is  to  take  the  place  of  this  one  may  be 
bigger  and  grander  and  more  in  keeping  with 
these  latter  days,  I  shall  doubt  whether  it  will  be 
so  much  associated  with  history  and  affairs. 

491 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  has  entertained  in  its 
day  a  larger  number  of  the  great  of  the  earth 
whose  plans  for  social  and  commercial  enterprises 
and  improvements  were  here  matured  and  exe- 
cuted, than  has  any  other  house  in  America.  But 
perhaps  its  chief  fame  will  remain  in  its  long 
association  with  the  Eepublican  party.  Sitting  in 
the  "Amen  Corner,"  which  may  never  be  revived, 
one's  vision  extended  from  Montauk  Point  to 
Buffalo,  and  it  is  no  idle  boast  to  say  that  it  was 
the  judgment  that  collected  in  the  "Amen  Corner" 
and  there  threshed  out  the  issues  of  the  day, 
which  for  a  period  of  many  years  directed  the 
destinies  of  the  State  of  New  York,  wrote  its 
statutes,  and  decreed  all  its  important  acts  of 
government.  I  shall  not  take  this  time  to  con- 
sider whether  the  changes  that  have  latterly  oc- 
curred are  reforms  or  otherwise. 

It  may  be  that  one-man  government  is  at  all 
times  the  best,  or  that  to  elect  a  single  instrument 
of  the  public  will,  upon  the  understanding  that  he 
shall  run  things  as  the  newspapers  ordain,  is  the 
policy  of  perfection ;  but  at  all  events,  nobody  can 
take  away  from  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  the  fame 
that  it  for  years  enjoyed  as  the  place  where  from 
every  city  and  county  in  this  State  there  came, 
met  and  conferred  the  strongest  minds  in  the  Ee- 
publican party,  and  the  place  from  which,  after 
their  combined  judgment  had  been  finally  reached, 
there  went  a  sentiment  in  accordance  with  which 
popular  judgment  was  molded  and  put  into  effect. 

492 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

That  sentiment,  born,  as  I  said,  of  the  large 
experience  and  considerate  judgment  of  the  popu- 
lar leaders  who  composed  the  Eepublican  organi- 
zation, and  who  habitually  assembled  here,  and 
from  here  dispersed  throughout  this  State  with  a 
common  purpose  and  an  harmonious  understand- 
ing, has  made  and  unmade  Presidents  and  Gov- 
ernors, has  determined'  platforms  and  policies 
both  in  the  State  and  the  Nation,  and  has  exer- 
cised a  controlling  influence  upon  affairs  for  a 
period  of  time  ivithin  which  the  Republican  party 
achieved  its  greatest  successes  and  the  people  of 
the  State  their  largest  measure  of  prosperity. 
That  is  a  glory  ivhich  will  be  associated  with  this 
spot  for  many  years  to  come. 

Then  Senator  Depew,  the  youngest  old  man  I 
ever  knew,  clambered  upon  the  bench  and,  amid 
the  yells  of  the  "Old  Guard/'  told  just  what  the 
"Amen  Corner"  meant,  and  "what  it  had  done." 
Senator  Depew  said : 


My  dear  old  friends :  I  have  sat  on  this  bench 
on  and  off  for  forty  years,  but  I  never  stood  on 
it.  I  have  heard  many  great  questions  discussed 
at  different  times,  and  one  of  them  was  as  to  what 
was  the  capital  of  this  country.  The  capital  has 
been  this  "Corner." 

I  know  Governors  who  thought  they  did  things 
493 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

from  the  Executive  Chamber;  but  they  were  done 
from  the  "Amen  Corner. "  I  know  speakers  who 
are  looked  to  for  the  make-up  of  committees  from 
the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature.  They  said 
they  would  consult  with  the  members  of  their 
families  in  the  rural  regions,  and  I  have  found 
that  the  families  they  consulted  were  Senator 
Platt  in  the  "Amen  Corner/'  I  have  known  con- 
ventions where  the  900  delegates  thought  they 
would  make  up  the  State  ticket  themselves;  but 
they  received  their  inspiration  from  the  plush  seats 
in  the  "Amen  Corner."  Many  a  man  who  sat  on 
these  benches  thought  he  would  be  Governor,  and 
was  glad  to  get  the  nomination  for  Assembly.  I 
speak  from  the  venerableness  of  old  age.  ( Shout  : 
"No,  you  don't!  Years  don't  count;  now  what 
counts  is  your  condition.") 

Historic  memories  like  this  should  be  preserved. 
I  saw  Elaine,  Conkling,  Grant  and  Arthur  sit 
here.  I  have  seen  this  '  '  Corner ' '  filled  with  men  in 
uniforms,  but  at  other  times  by  men  who  wanted 
to  be  decorated  with  uniforms.  I  do  not  believe 
there  will  ever  be  a  spot  in  the  State  or  country 
where  so  much  of  influence  and  power  will  go  out 
to  make  for  history  as  the  "Amen  Corner." 


494 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Clarkson's  analysis  of  my  leadership — Lenient 
and  forgiving,  rather  than  revengeful,  I  have 
been  cm  "Easy  Boss"  and  "keep  no  book  of 
hates." 

GENERAL,  JAMES  S.  CLABKSON  recently  made  this 
analysis  of  my  career : 

In  seeking  to  rule  New  York,  Mr.  Platt  had 
first,  at  the  establishment  of  his  power,  to  make 
himself  the  leader  of  all  leaders.  This  his  critics 
admit  he  has  done.  Having  thus  become  the  ac- 
cepted leader  of  leaders,  he  became  responsible 
and  remained  responsible  in  the  large  part  for 
all  that  the  State  as  a  State  has  done  since. 

A  rigid  inspection  of  the  leaders  who  followed 
him  shows  them  to  be  men  of  such  high  class,  in 
public  ability  and  personal  worth,  that  they  may 
themselves  be  called  in  corroboration  and  proof 
that  he  has  always  called  and  accepted  the  best 
and  strongest  men  of  his  party  to  his  support  and 
never  demeaned  himself  or  his  great  purposes  by 
building  up  his  power  on  men  who  have  simply 
followed  him  as  parasites,  "because,"  as  Juvenal 
said,  "of  being  taken  with  the  smell  of  his 
kitchen." 

495 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

The  great  skill  of  Grant  was  in  choosing  his 
generals  and  in  organizing  his  army.  After  that, 
as  he  has  said,  nothing  could  defeat  him. 

Much  the  same  has  been  Platt's  skill  in  his  po- 
litical organization  and  the  contests  he  has  made. 
Grant  did  not  lead  in  all  the  successful  battles 
under  him.  He  selected  and  directed  the  men 
who  did.  Platt  has  not  led  personally  in  all  his 
hundred  contests  and  his  hundred  victories,  but  he 
has  led  in  the  most  of  them,  and  has  chosen  and 
supported  the  leaders  who  won  the  others. 

It  is  asserted  that  he  has  ruled  with  such  a 
strong  hand,  that  he  has  personally  selected  the 
members  making  up  a  majority  of  every  Repub- 
lican  Legislature  in  recent  years ;  also  every  State 
official,  and  every  judge  who  has  been  elected  in 
Eepublican  districts  or  appointed  by  Republican 
Governors;  that  he  has  asserted  his  way  even  in 
the  choice  of  city  and  county  officers,  and  that  by 
these  arbitrary  and  revolutionary  methods  he  has 
changed  a  former  Democratic  State  into  a  perma- 
nent Eepublican  State.  It  is  also  insisted  that 
his  strong  hand  has  passed  over  all  the  State  in- 
stitutions of  charity,  reform,  industry,  and  what 
not,  and  brought  them  into  a  line  of  similar  char- 
acter with  the  Legislature,  the  State  officials  and 
the  courts. 


496 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


LEGISLATION   BETTEB  AND   PKOGRESSIVE 

As  to  the  Legislature,  we  find  that  in  recent 
years  the  State  and  all  its  public  institutions,  am- 
bitions and  methods  have  been  changed  into  new 
and  better  courses;  all  the  new  legislation  has 
been  progressive;  the  .complexion  and  habit  of 
things  changed  at  Albany;  .the  lobby  banished 
from  the  State  House,  and  a  new  system  of  check 
and  balance,  as  between  the  people  and  the  cor- 
porations, for  the  better  protection  of  the  public, 
established;  the  State's  corporation  laws  revised 
and  liberalized;  the  laws  of  taxation  greatly  im- 
proved; legislation  made  much  cleaner  and  more 
open;  the  custom  of  giving  all  interests  public 
hearings  before  the  proper  Legislative  commit- 
tees; the  capacity  and  efficiency  of  the  State's 
various  institutions  increased,  and  also  the  kind- 
ness of  many  of  them  toward  helpless  or  suffering 
inmates ;  the  financial  policies  of  the  State  wisely 
nurtured  into  all  that  modern  financiering  can 
ask,  or  the  interests  of  the  people  require;  the 
great  legislation  accomplishing  the  Greater  New 
York,  fairly  to  be  called  Mr.  Platt's  personal 
work,  and  to  stand  for  time  to  his  credit;  and  the 
laws  for  the  control  of  the  liquor  traffic  completely 
revised,  the  tax  made  so  high  that  the  number  of 
saloons  has  been  reduced  by  over  eight  thousand 
and  over  sixty  millions  of  dollars  in  five  years 
brought  to  the  State  from  this  interest  that  before 
largely  escaped  its  just  share  of  taxation. 

497 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plati 

It  took  moral  courage  and  personal  pluck  to 
oppose  this  powerful  and  desperate  element  and 
put  a  curb  in  its  mouth.  But  Mr.  Platt  quietly 
faced  the  actual  personal  dangers  as  one  of  his 
Eevolutionary  grandfathers  would  have  faced 
them;  just  as  he  has  faced  the  demand  to  let  the 
saloons  of  New  York  City  be  open  on  Sundays, 
and  all  others  in  the  State  closed. 

[General  Clarkson  referred  to  threats  upon  my 
life  during  the  battle  over  the  Raines  liquor  tax 
law,  which  caused  my  friends  to  employ  detectives 
to  protect  me  night  and  day.] 

Eecord  and  truth  acquit  Mr.  Platt  and  the  Leg- 
islatures of  all  the  charges  made  against  them, 
and  acquit  the  people  of  the  State,  in  indorsing 
him  and  the  Assemblies  year  by  year,  of  having 
been  wrong  in  doing  so ;  and  leave  the  accusers  of 
him  and  them  discredited  and  impeached  on  their 
own  chosen  ground  of  trial  and  proof.  In  the 
whole  Legislative  field,  so  much  railed  against,  and 
charged  so  much  with  being  corrupt,  not  even  his 
worst  enemies  point  out  specifically  any  good  leg- 
islation that  Mr.  Platt  has  not  favored,  nor  any 
bad  legislation  that  he  has  not  opposed. 

FOUR  GEEAT  GOVERNORS 

The  most  of  the  complaints  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Platt  have  been  in  respect  of  four  Governors. 
These  Governors,  whom  he  has  been  charged  with 
having  personally  selected  and  forced  on  the  State, 

498 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

are  Levi  P.  Morton,  an  ex- Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  one  of  the  first  American  gentle- 
men, financiers  and  philanthropists;  Mr.  Black, 
of  such  personal  ability  and  power  and  courage 
as  to  win  and  keep  the  State's  highest  regard; 
Colonel  Eoosevelt,  the  untamed  and  untamable, 
never  possible  of  being  made  bridlewise  to  any 
man 's  reins — the  strenuous  man  of  the  new  times, 
to  whose  usefulness  the  future  alone  sets  the  limit ; 
and  Governor  Odell,  who,  by  the  very  strength  of 
first  taking  hold  as  well  as  by  the  immediate  dem- 
onstration of  uncommon  ability  and  courageous 
purpose,  won  at  once  the  faith  of  the  State  and 
the  confidence  and  admiration  of  the  people. 

It  is  a  splendid  lot  of  Governors  that  Mr.  Platt 
has  personally  given  to  the  State — great,  strong 
men,  who  conducted  the  business  of  the  State  on 
the  highest  plane,  and  without  the  least  of  scandal 
or  reproach. 

The  assertion  that  Mr.  Platt  is  revengeful  in 
nature,  and  that  people  who  opposed  him  in  poli- 
tics, or  in  his  own  party,  have  had  to  meet  his 
enmity  ever  after,  is  met  with  abundant  and  strik- 
ing proofs  exactly  to  the  contrary.  The  greater 
places  under  recent  Federal  administrations  held 
by  New  York  men,  were  occupied  by  those  who 
had  always,  and  sharply,  and  not  always  chival- 
rously, opposed  Mr.  Platt;  such  as  Joseph  H. 
Choate,  Horace  Porter  and  Elihu  Eoot. 

Mr.  Choate  was  made  Ambassador  to  England 
by  Mr.  Platt 's  favor  and  request.  Mr.  Porter  was 

499 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

made  Ambassador  to  France  by  his  favor  and  re- 
quest, and  Mr.  Boot  Secretary  of  War,  through 
Mr.  Platt 's  suggestion  and  request.  President 
Roosevelt  was  almost  steadily  a  fighter  against 
Platt;  yet  Mr.  Platt  chose  him  for  Governor  of 
New  York,  urged  his  entrance  upon  the  contest 
and  prevented  his  retirement  from  the  lists  just  a 
few  days  before  the  convention,  as  Colonel  Roose- 
velt was  then  determined  to  do. 

Indeed,  it  is  nearer  true  that  Mr.  Platt,  in  his 
nature,  is  trusting  rather  than  distrustful;  credu- 
lous rather  than  superstitious;  and  lenient  and 
forgiving  rather  than  revengeful.  In  all  his  traits 
or  laws  of  character,  he  is  more  inclined  to  err  on 
the  side  of  forgiving  enmity  or  wrong,  rather  than 
nursing  up  revenge  or  keeping  a  book  of  hates. 

General  Clarkson's  encomiums,  deserved  or  not, 
cause  me  to  recall  with  the  profoundest  fraternal 
affection  the  splendid  body  of  American  citizens 
with  whom  I  have  associated.  Of  them  I  will  deal 
in  a  separate  chapter. 


500 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Men  I  have  made  and  unmade — Great  array  of 
distinguished  Presidents,  Governors  and 
other  officials  the  New  York  organization  has 
furnished  Nation  and  State — Those  disrated 
^vho  posed  as  {f  Holier  than  Thou's — Field- 
marshals  who  were  loyal  in  victory  or  dis- 
aster. 

I  HAVE  been  accused  of  making  some  men  and 
unmaking  others.  That  is  a  charge  frequently 
uttered  against  any  one  who  has  possessed 
political  power. 

I  have  always  believed  that  a  political  organi- 
zation should  be  as  well  disciplined  as  the  army 
and  the  navy.  An  officer  of  either,  who  proves  un- 
faithful, is  sure  of  punishment.  The  traitor  is 
rarely  treated  with  mercy.  Nor  should  he  be  in  a 
political  organization. 

My  title  of  "Easy  Boss"  came  to  me  unso- 
licited. I  assume  that  those  responsible  for  its 
creation  were  convinced  that  I  never  knowingly 
inflicted  chastisement  upon  any  member  of  the 
organization  or  member  of  the  party,  without  first 
thoroughly  acquainting  myself  with  the  facts  in- 
volved in  his  offense. 

A  political  organization  should  be  conducted 
501 


WILLIAM  H.  TAFT 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

upon  the  simplest  principles  of  business.  Merit 
and  devotion  should  be  rewarded.  Demerit  and 
treachery  should  be  condemned  and  examples 
made  of  those  guilty  of  them.  I  have  always  main- 
tained that  a  majority  rather  than  a  minority  of 
an  organization  should  control  the  party  and  its 
policy.  Whenever  I  have  been  in  the  minority,  I 
have  acquiesced  in  the  decrees  of  the  majority. 
When  in  the  majority,  I  have  invariably  contended 
that  the  minority  should  yield  to  the  majority. 

During  an  experience  of  over  fifty  years  in  poli- 
tics, I  have  learned  that  obedience  to  instructions 
and  gratitude  are  about  as  scarce  as  snow  in  the 
dog-days.  In  choosing  my  lieutenants  and  candi- 
dates, I  invariably  insisted  upon  the  qualification 
that  the  man  must  know  enough  to  "  stand  when 
hitched."  The  list  of  those  who  have  ignored  or 
defied  this  rule  would  fill  a  large  volume.  And 
that  has  made  it  necessary  for  me,  as  an  organiza- 
tion chief,  to  reluctantly  and  sometimes  merciless- 
ly administer  punishment  to  a  subordinate.  Only 
in  this  way  can  the  discipline  of  any  body  of  men 
be  enforced. 

I  found  this  to  be  the  case  in  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  my  first  village  machine,  in 
the  late  fifties,  as  well  as  in  the  establishment  and 
holding  together  of  the  great  State  machine,  which, 
acting  as  a  unit,  transformed  New  York  from  a 
Democratic  into  an  impregnable  Eepublican 
Gibraltar. 


503 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


Among  the  numerous  instances  of  chastisement 
I  was  forced  to  apply,  none  gave  me  more  regret 
and  pain  than  when  I  was  called  upon  to  deal  with 
J.  Sloat  Fassett,  of  Chemung.  Attracted  by  his 
ability  and  energy,  I  early  in  the  eighties  brought 
about  his  nomination  and  election  as  State  Sena- 
tor from  the  Chemung-Steuben  District.  He  dis- 
played such  devotion  and  aggressiveness  in  for- 
warding the  interests  of  the  Eepublican  organiza- 
tion, that  within  a  few  years  he  was  the  recog- 
nized Eepublican  floor-leader  of  the  upper  house 
at  Albany.  In  the  give-and-take  battles  with 
David  B.  Hill,  then  the  Democratic  Governor,  Fas- 
sett  proved  himself  exceedingly  clever.  Bare,  in- 
deed, was  it  that  the  skilful  politician  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  Capitol  was  not  "hoist  by  his  own 
petard, "  and  his  schemes  to  manufacture  capital 
for  himself  and  his  party  balked  by  the  tact  and 
parliamentary  adeptness  of  the  young  man  from 
Elmira,  from  which  city,  by  the  way,  Hill  himself 
hailed. 

When  a  Tammany  carnival  of  corruption  pre- 
vailed in  New  York  City,  I  chose  Fassett  to  head 
the  Legislative  committee  that  probed  it.  He 
handled  the  investigations  so  intelligently  that  the 
Tammany  rogues  were  driven  to  cover,  and  legis- 
lation was  enacted  that  remedied  many  of  the 
wrongs  from  which  citizens  of  the  metropolis  suf- 
fered. I  saw  that  Fassett  was  rewarded  by  an 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

appointment  as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York, 
the  most  desirable  office  within  the  gift  of  the 
President. 

Fassett 's  ambition  was,  however,  to  be  Gov- 
ernor. With  misgivings  as  to  its  expediency,  I 
brought  about  his  nomination  in  1891.  He  was 
defeated,  as  I  feared  he  would  be.  Three  years 
later,  determined  that  no  risk  should  be  taken  in 
the  selection  of  candidates,  I  picked  Levi  P.  Mor- 
ton for  Governor.  Fassett  protested  that  he  alone 
was  entitled  to  the  nomination.  He  called  upon 
me  at  my  Broadway  office  and  rebuked  me  for 
refusing  to  give  him  another  chance  to  run. 

My  answer  was  substantially :  ' l  Sloat,  I  am  as 
fond  of  you  personally  as  I  am  of  my  own  sons- 
I  cordially  appreciate  all  you  have  done  for  the 
party  and  the  organization.  You  have  been  fre- 
quently honored  by  that  party.  You  had  a  chance 
to  be  Governor  two  years  ago.  You  failed  of 
election.  You  are  young  and  can  afford  to  wait. 
We  cannot  take  any  chances  this  year.  Just  be 
patient  a  while  and  you  will  secure  a  higher  honor 
than  that  of  Governor. ' ' 

Fassett  angrily  retorted :  "I  will  be  nominated 
and  elected  Governor  in  spite  of  you.  I  shall  go 
to  the  State  Convention  and  beat  you  and  Morton 
there." 


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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


HOW   THE   MORTON   CAB   CEUSHED  HIM 

With  tliis  parting  fling  Fassett  rushed  out  of 
my  presence.  He  did  attend  the  State  Conven- 
tion. But  the  Morton  car  rolled  over  him. 

Enraged  because  of  his  defeat,  Fassett  hegan  to 
organize  a  machine  of  his  own  to  smash  the  regu- 
lar organization.  I  placed  Colonel  Archie  E. 
Baxter  in  charge  of  the  regular  organization 
forces  in  the  Chemung  District,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  Fassett  was  an  inconsequential  factor  in 
politics,  where  he  had  been  a  power.  Years 
passed.  Fassett  finally  became  tired  of  being  dis- 
ciplined. He  came  to  me  and  besought  my  influ- 
ence to  make  him  a  member  of  the  State  Commit- 
tee. He  promised  to  "be  good,"  and  was  made 
a  member  of  the  State  Committee.  Later,  he, 
through  my  influence,  was  nominated  and  elected 
to  Congress,  where  he  is  sitting  now. 

Had  Fassett  kept  in  the  traces  in  1894,  he  un- 
doubtedly would  have  been  nominated  and  elected 
Governor  or  Vice-President  in  1896.  Few  inci- 
dents of  my  career  have  given  me  more  pain  than 
Fassett 's  conduct.  We  are  now  very  good  friends, 
however,  and  Fassett,  I  believe,  realizes  fully  as 
well  as  I  do  what  a  blunder  he  committed  in 
proving  ungrateful  and  insubordinate  to  those 
who  did  most  to  elevate  him  to  places  of  political 
influence  and  power. 


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MALCONTENTS    MUST    BE    BRUSHED    ASIDE 

George  William  Curtis  was  one  of  those  who 
stood  for  a  clique  in  the  party.  It  was  a  small 
minority.  And  yet  he  urged  that  it  must  rule.  It 
was  repeatedly  defeated  in  the  primaries.  Again, 
the  element  led  by  Curtis  many  times  refused  to 
participate  in  the  primaries.  Yet  it  was  in  at- 
tendance upon  party  conventions,  noisily  demand- 
ing recognition  and  threatening  to  knife  the  ticket 
if  men  were  nominated  and  a  platform  adopted 
that  did  not  suit  it.  Naturally,  the  organiza- 
tion resented  this  and  brushed  such  malcontents 
aside. 

William  H.  Eobertson  and  James  J.  Belden 
were  also  typical  illustrations  of  the  point  I  de- 
sire to  make.  Both  usually  represented  a  minority 
in  the  organization  or  the  party.  Both  were  con- 
stantly plotting  to  force  nominations  of  their  own. 
When  beaten,  they  had  a  habit  of  returning  to 
their  districts  and  rallying  their  friends,  not  to 
the  support  of  the  regularly  selected  ticket,  but 
to  a  secret  or  open  support  of  the  Democratic 
nominees.  The  organization  saw  to  it  that  after 
his  retirement  as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  Eobertson  got  no  further  than  a  seat  in 
the  State  Senate. 

Belden,  by  the  employment  of  a  fortune,  and 
combinations  with  the  Democrats  of  Onondaga 
County,  managed  to  hold  a  chair  in  Congress  for 
several  terms.  But  he  never  advanced  beyond 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

that,  and  he  died  at  a  time  when  he  could  not 
control  his  home  district. 

Warner  Miller  was  another  who  so  long  as  he 
and  his  friends  dominated  the  organization,  was 
merciless  in  his  methods  of  discipline  against  any- 
body who  disagreed  with  him.  When  he  became 
a  minority  leader,  he  kept  conniving  against  the 
leaders  in  power,  and  seemed  to  prefer  that  Demo- 
crats should  win  rather  than  Eepublicans  he  did 
not  like. 

WARNER  MILLER'S  PUNISHMENT 

Men  like  Titus  Sheard,  once  Speaker  of  the  As- 
sembly, soon  got  tired  of  such  practices.  After 
a  few  years  he  succeeded  in  depriving  Miller  of 
control  of  his  resident  Herkimer  district.  Nor 
did  he  ever  recover  it. 

Henry  G.  Burleigh,  popularly  known  as  the 
"Bounding  Burleigh, "  was  still  another  who, 
while  his  faction  was  in  the  ascendancy,  was  as 
loyal  as  any  man  could  ask  to  the  Republican  can- 
didates. But  when  the  organization  had  others 
than  his  friends  as  leaders,  somehow  the  Repub- 
lican vote  in  Washington  County  dwindled  im- 
measurably. So  we  had  to  put  Isaac  V.  Baker  in 
Burleigh 's  place.  After  that  the  Republican  vote 
in  Washington  so  increased  that  it  became  known 
as  one  of  the  banner  Republican  counties  of  the 
State. 

Jacob  Worth,  who  for  years  was  one  of  the 
ablest  leaders  that  ever  headed  the  Kings  County 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

organization,  suddenly  imagined  that  he  was  big- 
ger than  the  State  organization.  He  was  detected 
getting  together  a  movement  for  the  undoing  of 
men  responsible  for  his  elevation.  That  could  not 
be  tolerated.  So  the  State  organization  concluded 
to  deputize  Timothy  L.  Woodruff  to  "cut  the 
ground  from  under  Worth's  feet."  And  he  did 
so.  The  change  eventually  changed  Kings  County 
from  a  Democratic  to  a  Eepublican  stronghold. 

Smith  O'Brien  for  a  long  time  sought  to  make 
good  in  Albany  County.  It  ultimately  became  ap- 
parent that  unless  a  change  were  made  in  the 
leadership  there,  Albany  was  hopeless.  The  or- 
ganization chose  William  Barnes,  Jr.,  as  his  suc- 
cessor. Almost  immediately  the  young  men  clus- 
tered about  Barnes.  They  took  the  county,  which 
had  been  a  Democratic  Gibraltar  almost  from 
war  days,  away  from  such  leaders  as  David  B. 
Hill,  Daniel  Manning  and  D.  Cady  Herrick.  For 
nearly  a  decade  it  has  been  as  certainly  Eepubli- 
can as  St.  Lawrence. 

James  W.  Husted  was  still  another  type  of  man 
who  felt  himself  greater  than  the  organization. 
While  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  he  affiliated  with 
the  Half-breeds  and  fought  everything  that 
savored  of  Stalwarts  and  Stalwartism.  When  the 
Stalwarts  became  masters  of  the  organization, 
Husted  declined  to  accept  the  verdict.  He  soon 
began  to  go  down,  down,  down.  At  his  death,  he 
could  scarcely  hold  his  home  district  in  West- 
Chester  County. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

James  M.  E.  O'Grady,  of  Monroe,  was  made 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly  by  the  organization.  He 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  was  superior  in  power 
and  intelligence  to  the  men  who  put  him  there. 
Among  these  was  George  W.  Aldridge,  leader  of 
the  Monroe  organization.  O'Grady  plotted  to 
crush  Aldridge.  Instead,  O'Grady  was  crushed. 
After  a  brief  term  in  Congress,  he  was  forced  out 
of  politics  as  an  influential  factor. 

BBOOKFIELD    DIES    SHOKN    OF    POWER 

William  Brookfield  was  made  chairman  of  the 
Eepublican  County  Committee  of  New  York  by 
the  organization  vote.  He  was  elevated  to  the 
chairmanship  of  the  State  Committee  by  the  same 
element.  Then  Brookfield  sought  to  deliver  the 
organization  to  men  who  had  fought  it  most  des- 
perately. This  the  organization  would  not  suf- 
fer. It  supplanted  him  and  made  Charles  W. 
Hackett  State  chairman.  That  ended  Brookfield 
politically.  He  formed  several  anti-organization 
associations  and  tried  to  secure  revenge.  He 
failed  most  lamentably.  I  regret  to  say  that 
Brookfield  died  without  having  restored  himself 
to  the  confidence  of  the  leaders  who  lifted  him  to 
the  high  places  he  once  occupied. 

Cornelius  N.  Bliss  once  inaugurated  a  campaign 
against  the  regulars,  too.  He  began  it  in  New 
York  County.  After  he  had  it,  as  he  thought, 
pretty  well  established,  it  was  captured,  body  and 

510 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

breeches,  by  the  regular  organization.  Later,  Bliss 
became  a  good  regular.  He  was  made  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  by  President  McKinley.  Since  his 
retirement  from  that  office  he  has  maintained  cor- 
dial relations  with  the  organization  powers. 

NO  APOLOGIES  FOR  ' '  MACHINE-MADE  "  OFFICIALS 

While  I  was  leader,  and  since,  "Goo-Goos" 
seemed  to  regard  it  a  smart  thing  to  belt  the  or- 
ganization, or  "machine,"  as  they  called  it,  as 
inherently  bad,  and  incapable  of  performing  pub- 
lic service.  My  answer  to  that  is  that  an  organiza- 
tion that  has  given  to  the  nation  two  such  Presi- 
dents as  Chester  A.  Arthur  and  Theodore  Bqose- 
velt,  ought  not  to  be  despised. 

An  organization  that  has  given  to  New  York 
State  Governors  Alonzo  B.  Cornell,  Levi  P.  Mor- 
ton, Frank  S.  Black,  Theodore  Eoosevelt,  Benj. 
B.  Odell,  Jr.,  and  Frank  W.  Higgins;  and  such 
Lieutenant-Governors  as  Charles  T.  Saxton,  Tim- 
othy L.  Woodruff,  M.  Linn  Bruce,  and  Horace 
White,  does  not  need  to  make  apologies. 

An  organization  that  elevated  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals  Bench  such  able  jurists  as  Charles  J. 
Folger,  Charles  Andrews,  Benj.  F.  Tracy,  Edward 
T.  Bartlett,  Albert  Haight,  Celora  E.  Martin,  Irv- 
ing G.  Vann,  William  E.  Werner,  Emory  A.  Chase, 
and  Frank  H.  Hiscock,  is  surely  entitled  to  the 
commendation  of  the  people. 

An  organization  that  chooses  and  elects  such  ex- 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

cellent  Supreme  Court  Justices  as  John  Wood- 
ward, Walter  Lloyd  Smith,  Albert  H.  Sewell, 
Chester  M.  McLaughlin,  Henry  T.  Kellogg,  Wil- 
liam D.  Dickey,  Edward  B.  Thomas,  Joseph  A. 
Burr,  Alden  Chester,  George  F.  Lyon,  Nathan  L. 
Miller,  Henry  B.  Coman,  Frederick  W.  Kruse,  and 
Alfred  Spring,  is  certainly  not  lacking  in  apprecia- 
tion of  what  is  required  to  insure  a  correct  inter- 
pretation of  the  laws  and  absolute  equity  in  their 
dispensation. 

An  organization  that  elects  men  of  the  calibre 
and  attainments  of  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  Eoscoe 
Conkling,  Frank  Hiscock,  Chauncey  M.  Depew, 
and  Elihu  Boot  to  the  U.  S.  Senate,  has  no  atone- 
ment to  make. 

An  organization  that  sends  to  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  such  spokesmen  as  James  S. 
Sherman,  now  Vice-President ;  Sereno  E.  Payne, 
Bepublican  floor-leader  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives ;  William  M.  Calder,  J.  Van  Vechten  01- 
cott,  Hamilton  Fish,  Edward  B.  Vreeland,  Michael 
E.  Driscoll,  Benjamin  Fairchild,  George  N.  South- 
wick,  John  W.  Dwight,  George  E.  Malby,  of  the 
present  membership,  many  of  whom  have  sprung 
into  prominence  during  the  past  twenty  years,  has 
reason  to  be  proud  of  its  discrimination. 

I  think  it  will  hardly  be  disputed  that  I  have  had 
something  to  do  with  picking  out  nearly  all  the 
high  officials  just  enumerated.  And  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  confess  it. 

Nor  have  I  anything  to  seriously  regret  in  the 
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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

shaping  of  the  organization  of  our  State  Legisla- 
tures. In  1873  Alonzo  B.  Cornell  was  made  speak- 
er. He  was  succeeded  by  James  W.  Husted.  My 
friends  chose  George  H.  Sharpe  in  1880  and  1881 ; 
Titus  Sheard  in  1884;  George  Z.  Erwin  in  1885; 
Fremont  Cole  in  1888  and  1889;  George  R.  Malby 
in  1894;  Hamilton  Fish,  in  1895-6;  James  M.  E. 
O'Grady  in  1897-8,  and  S.  Fred.  Nixon,  who  served 
continuously  from  1899  to  and  including  1905. 

With  the  death  of  Speaker  Nixon,  than  whom 
few  abler  men  ever  presided  over  the  Assembly,  I 
ceased  interest  in  officering  the  Legislature,  pre- 
ferring to  relegate  that  task  to  younger  and  per- 
haps wiser  men. 

FIELD-MARSHALS  WHO   WEEE  FAITHFUL. 

I  could  not  forgive  myself,  did  I  omit  to  pro- 
nounce a  benediction  on  some  of  the  field-marshals 
who,  in  victory  or  defeat,  exhibited  fighting,  quali- 
ties and  a  devotion  that  endeared  them  all  to  me. 
So  many  of  them  have  there  been,  that  I  confess  I 
am  in  a  serious  quandary  how  to  mention  any 
without  giving  the  entire  roster.  With  no  desire 
nor  intent  to  disparage  the  invaluable  services 
rendered  by  hundreds,  yea,  thousands  of  my 
former  lieutenants,  I  would  like  to  bear  witness  to 
the  skilful  and  loyal  worth  of  State  Chairmen 
Charles  W.  Hackett,  William  Brookfield  until  he 
retired  and  became  County  Chairman,  and  George 
W.  Dunn;  Executive  State  Chairman  William 

513 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Barnes,  Jr.;  National  Committeemen  William  A. 
Sutherland,  Frederick  S.  Gibbs,  and  George  R. 
Sheldon;  State  Committeemen  William  W.  Wor- 
den,  Isaac  V.  Baker,  Louis  F.  Payn,  Cornelius  Van 
Cott,  Frank  Witherbee,  J.  B.  H.  Mongin,  John  F. 
Parkhurst,  and  Lemuel  Ely  Quigg;  and  these 
chairmen  of  the  New  York  County  Committee: 
George  E.  Bidwell,  Charles  H.  Murray,  Jacob  M. 
Patterson,  Edward  Lauterbach,  Lemuel  E.  Quigg, 
Eobert  C.  Morris,  and  M.  Linn  Bruce. 

Nor  must  I  forget  the  unswerving  fealty  of 
Presidents  pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  Timothy  E. 
Ellsworth  and  John  Eaines,  and  the  fearless  band 
of  legislators  they  so  many  years  led  in  the  upper 
legislative  branch ;  nor  Speaker  S.  Fred  Nixon. 

Gen.  Clarkson  must  have  had  these  devoted 
lieutenants  in  mind  when  he  testified  to  their  high 
class,  personal  ability  and  worth.  With  such 
brainy,  true  staff  officers,  what  leader  could  have 
ultimately  failed  to  be  successful? 

I  have  outlived  a  number  of  my  marshals.  Those 
who  died  on  the  field  of  battle,  carried  with  them 
to  the  tomb  the  gratitude  of  their  commander. 

To  those  who  are  still  on  earth,  I  beg  to  renew 
my  acknowledgments  of  a  loyalty  that  I  shall  cher- 
ish until  I,  too,  am  summoned  hence. 

In  concluding  these  memoirs,  I  wish  to  testify 
my  heart-felt  appreciation  of  the  honor  paid  me 
by  the  Eepublican  legislators  last  January  (1909), 
when  they  so  fervently  re-echoed  the  "God  bless 
Thomas  Collier  Platt !"  sentiment  uttered  by  John 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Raines,  in  placing  in  nomination  Elihu  Koot  as 
my  successor  in  the  U.  S.  Senate. 


AMEN! 

I  was  more  than  touched  by  the  demonstration. 
My  devout  desire  is  that  when  I  am  no  longer 
mortal,  others  than  Eaines  and  my  Legislative 
friends  can  and  will  sincerely  say:  "God  bless 
Thomas  Collier  Platt  I" 

In  the  words  of  the  immortal  Lincoln:  "With 
malice  toward  none — with  charity  for  all,"  I  now 
lay  aside  my  pen. 


FINIS 


515 


ADDENDA 

PLATT,  THE  PRESIDENT-MAKER  AND  FINANCIER 

If  Eichard  Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  made  three- 
English  kings,  Thomas  Collier  Platt  made  four 
Presidents  of  the  United  States  and  four  Gov- 
ernors of  New  York. 

How  Platt  did  it  is  revealed  in  memoirs,  which,, 
upon  his  death,  March  6  last,  he  bequeathed  to  his; 
"Old  Guard. " 

In  these  memoirs,  the  American  Warwick  lays 
bare  intrigues  contrived  by  him  during  fifty-three 
years  spent  in  the  political  arena. 

He  frankly  and  boldly  discloses  National  andl 
State  secrets  hitherto  only  dreamed  of,  except  by 
those  in  his  immediate  confidence. 

Platt  traces  his  gradual  rise  from  a  Fremont 
campaign  troubadour  in  1856,  to  the  absolute  dic- 
tatorship of  the  Eepublican  party  in  the  East. 
He  tells  of  the  influential  leaders  he  made  and: 
unmade. 

The  crafty  methods  to  which  he  resorted  ta 
make  Garfield,  Harrison,  McKinley  and  Roosevelt 
Presidents;  Morton,  Black  and  Odell  Governors; 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

iand  Eoosevelt  Governor  and  Vice-President,  are 
disclosed  in  a  unique  and  masterful  manner. 

His  quarrels  with  Presidents  Garfield,  Hayes 
and  Harrison,  and  Governors  Black  and  Odell,  are 
candidly  described. 

The  humanity  of  one  popularly  presumed  to  be 
merely  a  cold-blooded,  conniving  politician  is  di- 
vulged through  the  reproduction  of  songs,  poems 
and  stories  composed  and  written  by  him. 

These  memoirs  had  their  real  inception  and  in- 
spiration during  a  visit  paid  by  the  writer  to 
Senator  Platt  in  1904.  Then  Benjamin  B.  Odell, 
Jr.,  had,  as  he  believed,  completely  crushed  the 
leader  who  had  lifted  him  out  of  obscurity,  twice 
elevated  him  to  <the  Governorship,  and  trustfully 
surrendered  to  him  the  management  of  the  Bepub- 
lican  machine.  Governor  Odell  having  just  driven, 
as  he  thought,  the  last  nail  into  Platt 's  political 
coffin,  by  throwing  Colonel  George  W.  Dunn,  the 
Senator's  most  loyal  friend,  out  of  the  chairman- 
ship of  the  State  Committee,  and  arrogating  that 
place  to  himself,  sought  to  further  humiliate  his 
erstwhile  chief  by  attempting  to  force  the  nomina- 
tion of  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  of  Illinois,  for  Vice- 
President.  Senator  Platt  had,  after  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  a  personal  unequivocal  pledge  of  sup- 
jport  from  Odell,  guaranteed  the  vote  of  the  New 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

York  delegation  to  the  Chicago  convention  to  his 
colleague,  Senator  Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  of 
Indiana. 

ENRAGED    AT    ODELL 's    PERFIDY 

He  was  inexpressibly  grieved,  and  later  en- 
raged, on  being  apprised  that  Odell  was  backing 
for  Boosevelt's  running  mate  the  present  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives. 

"Is  this  more  of  OdelPs  perfidy?  Is  he  not  con- 
tent with  years  of  treachery  to  the  men  who  made 
him,  and  with  the  accomplishment  of  their  down- 
fall through  his  usurping  the  title  of  Governor- 
Chairman?  No  matter  what  Odell  may  do  or  say, 
Fairbanks  will  be  nominated  for  Vice-President, ' ' 
was  Senator  Platt 's  furious  comment. 

Senator  Platt  was  then  lost  in  meditation  for 
a  moment.  Turning  to  the  writer,  he  exclaimed 
impressively:  "Some  day  I  intend  to  tell  some 
stories  which  I  would  tell  now,  did  I  not  love  the 
Eepublican  party  so  dearly.  My  affection  for  that 
party  and  its  principles,  my  constant  heart-felt 
desire  that  it  shall  continue  united  and  harmoni- 
ous, and  repeat  its  victories  in  State  and  nation, 
are  the  sole  reasons  why  I  am  very  unwillingly 
mute  at  this  time.  A  year  hence  I  may  be  ready 
to  break  my  silence.  Come  to  me  then,  and  we 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

will  get  up  something  that  I  think  will  at  least 
reveal  some  political  truths  and  prove  interesting 
reading/'  added  Senator  Platt  with  an  emphatic 
nod. 

Platt  went  to  Chicago  and  thwarted  OdelPs  ef- 
fort to  name  Cannon;  made  certain  of  Fairbanks' 
nomination,  and  later  threw  himself  resolutely  into 
what  proved  his  final  National  and  State  cam- 
paigns.  He  saw  to  it  that  Roosevelt  and  Fair- 
banks, and  Higgins  and  Bruce,  swept  the  State 
of  New  York.  After  that,  owing  to  physical  disa- 
bility, he  retired  from  active  politics,  and  con- 
fined himself  merely  to  the  performance  of  his 
duties  as  Senator  and  president  of  the  United 
States  Express  Company. 

During  the  fall  of  1905,  Senator  Platt  and  the 
writer  collaborated  in  preparing  the  first  instal- 
ment of  his  reminiscences.  The  copy  mysteri- 
ously disappeared  from  the  office  of  a  magazine 
which  was  to  publish  them.  It  was  never  traced. 
In  April  of  1909,  the  Cosmopolitan  produced  some 
notes  from  the  Platt  scrap-book. 

THE   "OLD  GUARD  V   DEMAND 

There  followed  a  fervent  and  imperative  de- 
mand from  members  of  the  "Old  Guard "  that 
the  Senator  should  tell  the  whole  story  of  his 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

career,  and  make  it  a  legacy  to  the  political  war- 
riors who  had  fought  and  bled  with  him  in  his 
fifty  years '  battle  for  Republican  supremacy.  The 
Senator  directed  me  to  resume  work.  At  inter- 
vals during  eight  months,  I  assisted  him  in  the 
task  of  preparing  this  autobiography  for  print. 
Mr.  Platt  had,  during  the  half  century  he 
figured  in  political  history,  preserved  reams  of 
memoranda  dealing  with  the  stirring  events  in 
which  he  had  been  a  participant.  So  numerous 
and  so  seemingly  essential  were  all  the  incidents 
the  Senator  had  collected,  that  the  chief  embar- 
rassment was  how  to  adequately  describe  them  in 
a  single  volume. 

Senator  Platt 's  insistence  was  that  the  recol- 
lections should  appear  in  a  modest,  moderate- 
sized  book,  as  a  truthful  and  accurate  narrative 
of  the  most  striking  features  of  his  record.  A 
complete  history  would  fill  many  volumes  like 
this.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  experiences, 
because  of  lack  of  space,  must  be  overlooked.  But 
in  granting  me  the  exclusive  right  to  arrange  for 
the  publication  of  the  book,  the  Senator  said  to 
me: 

"Whatever  others  may  say  or  think,  members 
of  my  'Old  Guard '  will,  I  know,  agree  that  I  have 
as  concisely  as  possible  recited  the  truth,  and 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

nothing  but  the  truth.  The  truth  requires  no 
defense  from  them,  nor  from  me.  The  unvar- 
nished facts  are  here,  no  matter  who  may  dispute 
them.  Please  get  them  before  the  public  with  all 
convenient  speed." 

Though  Senator  Platt  devoted  many  a  labori- 
ous hour  to  writing,  rearranging,  polishing  and 
approving  the  manuscript,  my  sincere  sorrow  is 
that  he  passed  to  his  Creator  before  it  could  be 
circulated  in  finished  book  form.  His  achieve- 
ments were  so  notable  and  nation-wide  that  the 
instant  rumor  became  current  that  he  was  about  to 
issue  his  memoirs,  a  number  of  magazines  and 
other  publications  sought  serial  rights.  The  book 
could  not  be  put  out  until  the  serial  extracts  had 
appeared  in  print. 

My  acquaintance  with  Senator  Platt  really 
began  in  1884,  though  he  and  my  father  were  in- 
timate when  both  were  residents  of  Tioga  County, 
N.  Y.  I  met  him  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New 
York,  a  few  days  prior  to  the  Eepublican  National 
Convention  of  that  year,  when  I  sought  from  him 
an  interview  for  the  New  York  World  as  to  his 
preference  for  the  Presidency.  Senator  George  F. 
Edmunds,  of  Vermont;  General  John  A.  Logan, 
'of  Illinois;  Theodore  Eoosevelt  and  George  Will- 
iam Curtis,  of  New  York,  had  just  concluded  a 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

conference  at  the  Fifth  Avenue,  and  decided  that 
the  New  York  delegation  must  support  Edmunds 
and  Logan  as  the  ticket  to  be  named  at  Chicago. 
I  had,  as  had  all  political  reporters  of  that  day, 
formed  the  opinion  that  Platt  would  support 
Chester  A.  Arthur  for  a.  renomination.  He  as- 
tounded me  and  my  fellows  by  declaring  un- 
equivocally for  James  Gr.  Elaine,  of  Maine.  Platt 
emphasized  this  by  climbing  to  the  stage  of  the 
Chicago  convention  hall  and  seconding  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  "Plumed  Knight."  This  act,  fol- 
lowed as  it  was  by  placing  Elaine  and  Logan  in 
the  field  as  the  regular  Eepublican  Presidential 
and  Vice-Presidential  nominees,  in  the  judgment 
of  political  writers  of  the  time,  did  more  to  clinch 
Platt 's  hold  on  the  New  York  State  leadership 
than  any  other  one  event. 

" STRAIGHT  NEWS"  ALWAYS  FEOM  HIM 

Conkling,  because  of  his  hatred  for  Elaine,  per- 
emptorily declined  to  attend  the  convention,  or  to 
in  any  way  aid  in  the  election  of  the  man  from 
Maine.  Though  Elaine  was  defeated  by  a  very 
small  plurality,  the  loyal  organization  men  ral- 
lied around  Platt,  proclaimed  him  leader,  and 
from  1884  to  the  day  of  his  retirement  we  news- 
paper men  were  in  the  habit  of  calling  on  the 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Senator  for  straight  news  about  Republican  party 
plans  and  policies.  And  we  always  got  it  straight. 

During  the  twenty  years  that  Platt  was  the  ac- 
knowledged and  undisputed  boss  of  the  Republi- 
can machine,  I  never  knew  him  to  wilfully  deceive 
any  one.  Almost  daily,  and  surely  every  Sunday, 
when  Platt  was  in  town,  it  was  the  custom  of  New 
York  City  political  writers,  and  during  campaigns 
those  from  all  the  great  cities  in  the  country,  to 
flock  to  his  rooms,  278-280,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue, 
or  to  the  "Amen  Corner,"  described  in  these 
reminiscences,  and  get  from  the  "boss"  the  "real 
Republican  dope,"  as  the  boys  stamped  it. 

Platt  was  to  those  who  secured  his  confidence 
the  most  approachable,  affable  and  communica- 
tive political  leader  one  could  meet.  His  fore- 
casts as  to  nominations  of  both  parties  and  elec- 
tion results  were  rarely  in  error. 

"It's  so  because  the  'old  man'  says  so,  and  he 
never  lies,"  was  the  constant  aphorism  employed 
by  newspaper  men  who  frequently  sought  infor- 
mation from  the  "boss." 

HOW  HE  BECAME  THE  "EASY  BOSS" 

Those  who  labor  under  the  delusion  that 
Thomas  Collier  Platt  was  a  heartless,  calculating 
boss,  do  not,  maybe,  recall  how  he  acquired  the 

524 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

title  of  "Easy  Boss."  The  Senator  related  the 
story  to  me  about  the  time  he  was  accused  of  re- 
lentlessly persecuting  Warner  Miller,  who  had 
temporarily  supplanted  him  in  the  United  States 
Senate. 

"I  have  very  sweet  authority  for  the  statement 
that  I  am  an  'Easy  Boss,'  "  said  the  Senator,  with 
a  happy  smile.  "A  little  news-girl,  who  said  her 
name  was  Winnie  Horn,  and  who  sells  papers  at 
the  West  Twenty-third  Street  station  of  the  <L' 
road,  complained  to  me  one  day  that  an  Alderman 
was  trying  to  drive  her  out  of  business.  I  prom- 
ised I  would  do  what  I  could  to  help  her.  I  suc- 
ceeded in  preventing  the  removal  of  her  stand. 
Winnie  was  very  grateful. 

'  *  On  returning  from  my  office  one  day,  I  assured 
the  girl  that  everything  was  all  right,  and  that 
she  would  not  be  disturbed. 

"  'I  thank  you  so  much,  Senator  Platt,'  said 
Winnie  jubilantly.  'You're  the  Easy  Boss,  all 
right!  You're  the  Boss  of  the  Elephant,'  she 
added  as  she  all  but  hugged  me  in  her  happiness. 

"  'My  little  friend,'  I  replied,  'I  do  not  know 
that  I  am  the  "Boss  of  the  Elephant,"  but  I  guess 
you  are  perfectly  right  when  you  say  I  am  an 
1 '  Easy  Boss, ' '  though  it  never  quite  struck  me  that 
way  before.'  " 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

Senator  Plait's  story  soon  went  the  round  of 
political  circles,  and  almost  from  the  day  he 
uttered  it  he  was  popularly  referred  to  as  the 
"Easy  Boss." 

Possibly  William  Barnes,  Jr.,  in  an  editorial 
in  the  Albany  Evening  Journal,  the  day  following 
Senator  Platt 's  death,  best  described  just  why  the 
title  "Easy  Boss"  stuck  to  him  to  the  finish. 

EVER  LOYAL  AND  TRUTHFUL 

Barnes  wrote : 

"He  was  called  the  'Easy  Boss/  He  led  only 
in  the  direction  the  party  was  willing  to  go.  He 
gave  his  party  the  benefit  of  his  clear  judgment, 
developed  through  the  experience  of  years;  but 
he  never  forced  upon  it  his  opinion  against  its 
will.  He  was  stanchly  loyal  to  all  who  trusted 
him  and  were  his  friends.  He  was  always  truth- 
ful. Deceit  was  foreign  to  his  nature.  He  gave  a 
promise  only  after  deliberation,  and  then  it  was 
a  bond,  never  to  be  defaulted.  He  knew  human 
nature,  and  shaped  his  actions  by  that  knowledge. 
His  dealings  with  men  were  as  man  to  man,  on  the 
level  of  equals,  never  as  between  one  who  arro- 
gates to  himself  a  superior  plane  and  arbitrarily 
places  others  on  a  plane  below.  His  loyalty,  his 
unvarying  good  faith,  his  intensely  human  quali- 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

ties — these  were  the  source  of  such  power  as  he 
wielded,  of  the  influence  which  he  had  over  men 
and  affairs." 

That  Platt  was  not  only  an  "Easy  Boss,"  but  a 
"Forgiving  Boss,"  and,  as  General  Clarkson 
testifies,  "kept  no  book  of  hates,"  is  abundantly 
exemplified  in  his  treatment  of  Republicans  who 
once  execrated  him.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who 
bitterly  fought  him  from  the  day  he  entered  poli- 
tics, was  made  Governor  and  Vice-President  by 
Platt,  and  became  President  through  McKinley's 
assassination.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  who  assailed 
Platt  on  and  off  the  stump  for  fifteen  years,  was 
indorsed  by  him  for  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of 
St.  James. 

A  FOEGIVING  BOSS,  TOO 

Later  Platt,  as  United  States  Senator,  saw  to 
the  confirmation  of  the  nomination  of  Whitelaw 
Reid  to  the  same  post,  though  Reid  had  excoriated 
him  for  years  in  the  New  York  Tribune.  Gen- 
eral Horace  Porter,  who  uttered  many  a  vitriolic 
attack  on  the  Senator,  was  sent  as  Ambassador  to 
France  with  his  approval.  Elihu  Root,  leader  in 
the  anti-Platt  crusade  of  the  early  nineties,  be- 
came McKinley's  Secretary  of  War  with  Platt 's 
approbation,  and  was  Platt 's  choice  for  Governor 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

in  1904,  and  his  successor  in  the  United  States 
Senate. 

Though  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  denied  and 
sought  to  crucify  his  political  creator,  Platt  for- 
gave him,  and  they  were  friends  again  at  least 
three  years  before  the  Senator  passed  away.  J. 
Sloat  Fassett,  who  repudiated  Platt  in  1894,  was 
taken  back  into  his  arms,  restored  to  leadership 
in  the  Chemung-Steuben  district,  and  sent  to  Con- 
gress, where  he  still  holds  a  seat.  The  late  Charles 
W.  Hackett,  right  bower  of  Warner  Miller  in  the 
fight  to  oust  Platt  from  the  United  States  Senate 
in  1881,  was  made  Platt 's  chairman  of  the  Repub- 
lican State  Committee  in  1894.  Lemuel  Ely 
Quigg,  once  lieutenant  for  Whitelaw  Eeid,  was 
made  a  member  of  Congress  and  chairman  of  the 
New  York  Republican  County  Committee  by  Platt. 
Hamilton  Fish,  leader  of  the  anti-Platt  coterie  in 
the  Assembly  in  1890,  became  Speaker  of  that 
House  through  Platt 's  influence  in  1895.  Cor- 
nelius N.  Bliss,  foe  of  Platt  from  Half-breed  days, 
owed  his  elevation  to  the  Secretaryship  of  the 
Interior  to  the  "Easy  Boss."  Frederick  S.  Gibbs, 
one  of  the  most  rabid  anti-Platt  rebels  in  the  As- 
sembly of  the  early  nineties,  was  made  National 
Committeeman  for  New  York  by  Platt 's  direction 
in  1896. 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

When  Platt  did  these  things,  when  he  took  to 
his  bosom  Bepublicans  who  had  engineered  for- 
midable factional  movements  in  opposition  to  him, 
he  was  asked  why.  His  reply  was : 


"  There  is  room  in  the  organization  for  every 
sincere  Eepublican.  The  door  is  wide  open  and 
will  never  be  closed  so  long  as  I  am  leader.  As 
Chauncey  M.  Depew  says:  'I  am  for  peace,  if  I 
have  to  fight  for  it.'" 

A  striking  instance  of  Senator  Platt 's  tender- 
heartedness developed  in  1894,  when  he  was  ap- 
prised of  the  illness  and  financial  embarrassment 
of  Warner  Miller.  Miller  had  supplanted  him  in 
the  United  States  Senate  in  1881.  Ever  after 
that  he  had  maintained  a  virulent  warfare  upon 
him. 

Levi  P.  Morton  had  just  been  elected  Governor. 
Platt  was  absolute  boss.  Learning  that  Miller 
was  in  the  hotel  at  which  he  made  his  home,  Platt 
sent  an  envoy  to  him,  offered  his  sincerest  sym- 
pathy, and  asked  if  he  could  do  anything  to  al- 
leviate his  physical  or  monetary  troubles.  Miller, 
in  a  fury,  retorted:  "Say  to  the  one  who  sent 
you  that  Tom  Platt  is  the  last  man  in  the  world 
from  whom  Warner  Miller  would  accept  succor!" 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Platt  swallowed  this  rebuke  good-naturedly  and 
instructed  his  friend  to  return  and  say :  '  '  If  Sena- 
tor Miller  declines  my  proffered  sympathy  and 
financial  aid,  please  tell  him  that  if  he  will  prompt- 
ly suggest  what  friends  he  desires  appointed  to 
office  under  the  Morton  administration,  I  shall 
use  such  influence  as  I  have  with  the  Governor  to 
have  his  recommendations  approved." 

Miller  resentfully  returned  answer  that  he  de- 
sired no  help,  politically  or  otherwise,  from  Platt. 
Instead  of  accepting  Platt 's  overtures  of  peace, 
Miller,  so  soon  as  he  recovered  his  health,  resumed 
hostilities  with  what  remained  of  his  meager  fol- 
lowing. He  assailed  Platt  whenever  and  wherever 
chance  offered.  Platt  finally  concluded  that  Miller 
was  too  much  of  a  " blunderbuss'  to  wield  further 
influence  in  the  party.  So  his  friends  went  to 
work  and  saw  to  it  that  Miller  did  not  even 
represent  his  home  district  in  the  next  State 
convention. 

Apropos  of  Miller's  vindictive  conduct,  Senator 
Platt  said:  "I  have  been  called  an  amiable  cynic. 
I  am  glad  that  I  have  been  leader  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  for  I  have  been  able  to  do  some  kind 
things  for  Republicans.  I  never  was  happier  than 
when  exercising  the  power  to  do  kind  things  for 
Republicans  who  believed  in  their  party,  and  who 

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The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

were  entitled  to  be  rewarded  by  that  party.  Those 
who  have  proved  ungrateful  and  otherwise  acted 
badly  toward  me  are  far  more  unhappy  over  their 
acts  than  I  am.'' 

GRIEVED    BY    INGRATITUDE 

I  have  rarely  seen  Senator  Platt  more  mortified 
and  grieved  than  on  his  seventy-sixth  birthday, 
July  15,  1909.  Seated  amid  a  bower  of  roses  on 
the  porch  of  his  summer  home  at  Freeport,  L.  L, 
he  opened  scores  of  telegrams  congratulating  him 
upon  his  anniversary. 

None  came  from  Theodore  Roosevelt,  whom  he 
had  nominated  for  Governor  and  Vice-President; 
Levi  P.  Morton,  Frank  S.  Black,  and  Benjamin 
B.  Odell,  Jr.,  whom  he  had  made  Governors ;  nor 
from  Timothy  L.  Woodruff,  whom  for  three 
terms  he  had  backed  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
for  Governor  in  1904. 

Sadly  the  chief  of  the  Eepublican  organization 
observed : 

"No;  I  have  heard  nothing  from  Eoosevelt, 
Morton,  Black,  Odell,  nor  Woodruff.  Eoosevelt,  I 
presume,  is  busy  shooting  lions  in  Africa.  There 
was  a  day  when  I  would  not  have  to  await  a  mes- 
sage from  any  one  of  them.  They  all  used  to  be 
glad  to  come  and  see  me,  especially  when  I  could 

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Vhe  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

do  something  for  them.  But  that  day  has  gone. 
It  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  political  game  nowa- 
days to  forget  one's  obligations.  I  was  not 
brought  up  in  that  school. 

"I  have  had  my  day;  others  are  having  theirs. 
When  a  man  has  been  active  in  business  and  poli- 
tics more  than  a  half  century,  it  is  time  he  retired. 
I  would  have  quit  many  years  ago,  except  that 
each  time  I  contemplated  it,  some  one  hit  me. 
Then  I  had  to  wait  until  the  fellow  who  hit  me 
was  tenderly  carried  to  his  political  grave. 

"But  I  have  outlived  hundreds  of  leaders  with 
whom  I  have  fought,  beginning  with  the  Fremont 
campaign  of  1856 — Lincoln,  Grant,  Hayes,  McKin- 
ley,  Eeed,  Hanna,  Quay — oh,  so  many  of  them  have 
passed  to  the  beyond,  and  I  am  still  here.  And 
I  am  going  to  live  a  hundred  years  if  I  can, ' '  added 
the  venerable  Senator,  stretching  his  tottering 
limbs  and  striving  to  arise  upon  them. 

AS  CAMPAIGN  FUND  COLLECTOR 

Senator  Platt  had  the  reputation  of  collecting 
more  money  for  political  campaign  purposes  than 
any  Republican  leader  in  history,  except,  perhaps, 
Mark  A.  Hanna.  He  used  to  call  himself  the  '  '  Beg- 
ging Chief. ' '  While  acting  as  the  pilot  of  the  New 
York  Eepublican  ship,  he  is  believed  to  have  per- 

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The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

sonally  received  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  from  business  concerns  and  individuals. 
This  money  was  invariably  turned  over  to  the 
campaign  managers  to  limber  up  the  machinery 
and  for  meeting  the  expenses  of  the  canvass.  Not 
even  his  most  malevolent  enemy  ever  accused 
Senator  Platt  of  putting  a  single  dollar  of  such 
contributions  into  his  own  pocket. 

Mindful  of  the  attacks  made  upon  the  Senator 
when  Governor  Hughes  and  the  Armstrong  Legis- 
lative Committee  were  probing  insurance  scan- 
dals, I  one  day  asked  him  if  he  would  estimate 
the  amount  of  money  he  had  for  the  previous 
quarter  of  a  century  raised  for  campaign  pur- 
poses. He  replied  that  he  could  form  no  accurate 
estimate. 

"But,"  continued  the  Senator  proudly,  "there 
is  no  man  in  this  world  who  dare  say  that  I  ever 
made  a  copper  out  of  politics.  On  the  contrary, 
I  am  much  the  poorer  for  my  activity  in  it.  Much 
of  my  private  income  has  been  dissipated  through 
my  desire  that  members  of  my  party  should  be 
elected  to  office.  Not  even  my  bitterest  enemy — 
and  I  presume  I  have  had  my  share  of  them — 
has  ever  accused  me  of  receiving  or  retaining  a 
dirty  dollar.  Much  ado  has  recently  been  made 
about  campaign  contributions.  Some  have  gone 

533 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

so  far  as  to  ascribe  to  all  those  who  collected  or 
accepted  them,  not  only  base  motives,  but  crim- 
inal intent. 

"I  am  happy  to  state,  that  while  a  few  mis- 
guided men  have  sincerely  formed  such  judgment, 
my  experience  has  been  that  those  most  blatant 
in  proclaiming  this  belief  either  seek  to  avoid  con- 
tributing or  are  quickest  to  rush  up  the  back 
stairs,  close  the  door,  and  seize  upon  the  gifts. 

"It  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  a  party  organization  that  it  shall  have  adequate 
and  available  funds.  Without  them,  an  organiza- 
tion cannot  subsist.  It  is  equally  true  that  can- 
didates for  office  must  have  money  with  which  to 
meet  the  legitimate  expenses  of  the  canvass.  It 
naturally  devolves  upon  some  one  in  the  organiza- 
tion to  make  certain  that  the  funds  are  forth- 
coming. 

"It  has  so  happened,  that  during  my  incum- 
bency of  the  leadership  I  have  been  looked  to,  to 
provide  the  bulk  of  the  funds.  My  limited  income 
would  not  permit  me  to  keep  replenishing  the  cam- 
paign chest  out  of  my  own  pocket.  It  was  there- 
fore a  duty  and  a  pleasure,  when  party  exigencies 
arose,  to  solicit  donations  from  men  abundantly 
able  to  give,  and  to  whose  vital  interest  it  was 
ihat  the  party  supremacy  be  sustained. 

534 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

"For  many  years  there  came  to  me  voluntarily, 
or  by  request,  substantial  offerings  of  financial 
support  for  the  regularly  nominated  candidates. 
These  were  immediately  turned  over  to  the  chair- 
men, secretaries  or  treasurers  of  the  State  and 
County  committees.  The  funds  were  invariably 
used  for  legitimate  campaign  purposes.  They 
were  employed  for  the  support  of  headquarters, 
mass  meetings,  traveling  expenses  of  speakers, 
and  the  distribution  of  literature  prior  to  election 
day.  On  that  day  they  were  used  to  pay  watchers 
and  bring  voters  to  the  polls.  How  much  money 
I  have  collected,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  estimate. 
It  came  from  everywhere.  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
accept  it  from  legal  corporations,  so  long  as  no 
obligations,  expressed  or  implied,  were  exacted. 
The  handling  of  the  money  was  elways  left  to  the 
State  and  County  committees.  My  duty  was  per- 
formed when  it  was  placed  in  their  hands. 

"Within  the  past  three  years,  laws  have  been 
enacted  whose  advocates  assert  were  drawn  to 
put  an  end  to  bribery  at  the  polls.  They  pro- 
ceeded upon  the  theory  that  wholesale  debauchery 
of  the  electorate  had  been  perpetrated,  and  that 
the  Republican  and  Democratic  machines  were 
responsible  for  it. 

"I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  since  these 
535 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

laws  became  operative,  there  has  been  little  less 
corruption  of  voters  than  under  the  old  statutes. 
On  the  contrary,  there  has  been  more  evasion  of 
the  laws  than  ever.  The  size  of  campaign  funds, 
Presidential,  State  and  city,  has  diminished  but 
slightly.  There  has  been  immeasurably  more  of 
perjury  among  candidates,  who,  posing  as  *  re- 
formers/ have  sworn  that  they  did  not  spend  a 
single  dollar  to  secure  election. 

"The  new  laws  have  encouraged  candidates  to 
refuse  to  bear  their  just  share  of  the  financial 
burdens,  and  emboldened  them,  after  election,  to 
abjure  obligations  to  those  who  nominated  and 
elected  them.  My  deliberate  judgment  is,  that 
under  the  laws  which  prevailed  prior  to  1907, 
there  was  far  less  hypocrisy,  subterfuge  and  chi- 
canery than  now." 

HOW  HE  SAVED  ROOSEVELT 

This  reminded  me  of  an  incident  that  happened 
just  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  1898  campaign. 
Theodore  Eoosevelt  was  the  Eepublican  candidate 
for  Governor.  His  Democratic  opponent  was  Au- 
gustus Van  Wyck.  Senator  Patrick  H.  McCarren, 
a  past-master  in  political  cunning,  managed  Van 
Wyck's  canvass.  He,  Eichard  Croker,  William  F. 
Sheehan  and  others  had  just  made  a  raid  on  Wall 

536 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Street  and  acquired  what  was  reported  to  be  the 
biggest  bundle  of  cash  raised  since  Colonel  John 
E.  Fellows,  in  1891,  distributed  over  a  quarter  of 
a  million  dollars  in  the  rural  districts  to  clinch  the 
election  of  Roswell  P.  Flower. 

Colonel  Eoosevelt  learned  of  this  while  on  an 
up-State  stumping  tour.  Alarmed,  he  hastened 
to  New  York  City  and  burst  in  upon  Chairman 
Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  of  the  Republican  State 
Committee. 

"Croker  and  McCarren  are  trying  to  buy  the 
State !"  shouted  Eoosevelt  in  tones  of  mingled 
indignation  and  fright. 

"I  know  it,"  replied  Odell  placidly. 

"Well,  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  it!"  in- 
quired the  Rough  Eider  in  a  quivering  voice. 

"We  shall  have  to  raise  some  more  money  our- 
selves, or  we  are  licked.  Do  you  know  where  we 
can  get  it?"  asked  Odell. 

"No,  I  don't,"  answered  Eoosevelt  helplessly. 

"Well,  let's  go  and  see  the  'old  man.'  Perhaps 
he  does,"  suggested  Odell. 

The  would-be  Governor  and  State  chairman 
hastened  to  Senator  Platt's  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
apartments.  They  apprised  the  Senator  of  the 
desperate  situation. 

537 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

"How  much  money  do  you  need,  Ben?"  asked 
Senator  Platt  of  Odell. 

"We  require  $60,000  at  once,  or  we  are 
whipped, "  was  the  response. 

"You  shall  have  the  $60,000,"  quietly  observed 
the  "old  man." 

"Why,  where  are  you  going  to  get  it  I"  queried 
Roosevelt  in  amazement. 

Platt  took  pencil  and  paper  and  put  down  six 
names,  headed  by  J.  Pierpont  Morgan. 

"Each  of  these  gentlemen  will  give  $10,000. 
That  will  make  up  the  $60,000,"  remarked  Platt 
as  he  read  off  their  names. 

"But  I  cannot  accept  contributions  from  the 
men  you  mention.  Really,  I  must  decline,"  pro- 
tested Roosevelt. 

"Who  is  running  this  campaign!"  demanded 
Platt  impatiently. 

"Why,  you  and  Odell  are,"  was  the  answer. 

"Then  I'll  go  downtown  and  get  the  $60,000," 
said  Senator  Platt,  as  he  called  a  cab  and  hurried 
to  the  money  center. 

He  brought  back  the  $60,000. 

Roosevelt  defeated  Van  Wyck  by  about  17,000 
plurality.  But  for  the  fund  accumulated  by  Platt, 
in  the  dying  hours  of  the  campaign,  Croker  and 

538 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

McCarren  asserted,  Van  Wyck  would  have  de- 
feated Eoosevelt  handily. 

That  would,  of  course,  have  made  Eoosevelt  an 
impossibility  for  Vice-President  and  President. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  "Old  Guardsmen "  to 
this  day  maintain:  "Platt  saved  Eoosevelt "? 

GOT  ROOSEVELT  A  FEDERAL  JOB 

One  of  the  first  assurances  Senator  Platt 
received  that  President  McKinley  had  forgotten 
his  offensive  opposition  to  his  nomination  in  1896, 
and  that  he  desired  to  recognize  him  absolutely  as 
the  chief  of  the  Empire  State  organization,  was 
a  request  that  he  indorse  Theodore  Eoosevelt  as  a 
candidate  for  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Senator  Platt  was  fond  of  relating  to  his  inti- 
mates the  peculiar  and  somewhat  amusing  circum- 
stances under  which  Eoosevelt  himself,  though 
he  had  been  his  political  foe  since  1882,  came 
to  him  "hat-in-hand/'  in  March  of  1897,  and 
besought  him  to  approve  his  application  for  a  job 
as  first  deputy  to  Secretary  of  the  Navy  John 
D.  Long. 

"The  rare  tact  and  sweetness  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley," began  Senator  Platt,  "which  ultimately 
led  to  the  development  of  relations  of  the  ut- 
most cordiality  between  us,  became  manifest 

539 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

soon  after  his  first  inauguration  in  March,  1897. 
One  morning,  about  March  17,  returning  to  my 
suite  in  the  Arlington  Hotel,  Washington,  from  a 
political  conference,  I  found  two  gentlemen  await- 
ing me  in  my  parlor.  Their  names  were  John 

Jacob  Astor  and  Theodore  Eoosevelt. 

i 

NEEDED  OFFICE  TO   MAKE   BOTH   ENDS   MEET 

"  '  Jack'  was  the  spokesman.  He  said  that 
Theodore  wanted  a  Federal  office,  and  Theodore 's 
friends  wanted  him  to  have  it.  Theodore  was  a 
man  of  small  means.  He  had  never  engaged  in 
business.  He  had  usually  held  office  throughout 
his  mature  life.  Office-holding  was  rather  essential 
in  the  way  of  supplementing  his  private  resources. 
They  had  just  seen  the  President  and  found  his 
frame  of  mind  to  be  favorable.  But — and  here 
was  the  significant  element  of  Jack's  recital — the 
President  said  he  would  be  pleased  to  appoint 
Theodore  to  some  office  if  he  could  obtain  the  in- 
dorsement of  Senator  Platt.  This  was  the  first 
intimation  I  had  received  as  to  the  probable  atti- 
tude of  the  President  toward  the  question  of  New 
York  Federal  appointments  and  my  relation  there- 
to, and  it  interested  me  mightily.  In  fact  I  could 
hardly  believe  it. 

"I  questioned  them  closely  on  this  point  and 
540 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

became  convinced  that  the  President  had  really  so 
expressed  himself.  Finally  I  said: 

"  'What  office  have  you  in  mind! ' 

"Jack  replied: 

"  *  About  the  only  available  place  seems  to  be 
the  Assistant  Secretaryship  of  the  Navy.' 

"My  thoughts  and  expressions  ran  about  like 
this :  I  do  not  particularly  like  Theodore.  He  has 
been  a  disturbing  element  in  every  situation  to 
which  he  has  been  a  party.  I  have  no  reason  to 
believe  the  leopard  changes  his  spots.  But  he  is 
not  essentially  harmful  and  can  probably  do  less 
harm  to  the  organization  as  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  than  in  any  other  office  that  can  be 
named.  Moreover,  I  will  see  whether  the  Presi- 
dent means  what  he  says.  So  I  turned  to  my 
secretary  and  said: 

MADE  ASSISTANT  SECRETAKY  OF  THE  NAVY 

"  l  Albert,  write  a  formal  note  to  the  President 
endorsing  Theodore  Koosevelt  for  appointment  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy.' 

"The  President  meant  what  he  said.  Soon 
thereafter  we  became  fast  friends.  Only  once  did 
he  affront  me,  and  then  innocently,  by  urging  me 
to  consent  to  the  nomination  of  Whitelaw  Eeid 
as  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  The 

541 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

name  was  not  sent  to  the  Senate  at  that  time. 
Later,  when  political  conditions  were  different, 
and  when  the  organization  in  New  York  was  suf- 
ficiently impregnable  to  be  unaffected  by  the  ap- 
pointment, the  nomination  was  made  and  con- 
firmed with  my  approval.'* 

HOME  LIFE 

My  friend,  Mrs.  McGuirk,  once  wrote  a  story 
entitled,  "Home  Life  of  T.  C.  Platt."  At  the 
risk  of  being  charged  with  purloining  what  be- 
longs to  her,  I  take  the  liberty  of  reproducing  some 
extracts  from  her  very  excellent  article.  Here  they 
are: 

His  political  and  domestic  life  has  been  more 
closely  allied  than  is  common  among  politicians, 
for  only  an  elevator  ride  of  four  stories  separates 
Mr.  Platt,  the  cynosure  of  the  famous  Fifth  Ave- 
nue Hotel  lobby,  from  Mr.  Platt  at  home.  Down 
in  the  lobby,  everybody  can  see  Mr.  Platt ;  on  the 
fourth  floor  only  a  few  people  have  a  chance  to 
see  him. 

The  Platts  have  never  maintained  a  private 
house  in  New  York,  and  for  twelve  years  have 
made  their  home  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel.  A 
suite  of  four  rooms  on  the  Twenty-fourth  Street 

542 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

corner  has  been  arranged  as  Mrs.  Platt  desired, 
and  from  their  long  occupancy  the  rooms  have 
come  to  possess  quite  as  homelike  a  feeling  as  a 
private  house  could.  There  is  a  private  hall,  sev- 
eral sleeping  and  dressing  rooms,  and  a  corner 
parlor,  the  windows  of  which  are  on  the  level  with 
the  Madison  Square  Eoof  Garden.  The  latest 
magazines  and  books  are  always  to  be  seen  on  the 
tables.  A  few  plants  and  flowers  give  a  touch  of 
summer  to  the  heavy  furnishings. 

Mr.  Platt  is  a  man  of  numerous  business  af- 
fairs, which  absorb  much  time  and  frequently  re- 
quire him  to  be  away  on  short  trips.  When  he  is 
in  the  city  he  usually  leaves  his  office  in  season  to 
reach  the  hotel  before  six  o'clock,  and  dines  with 
Mrs.  Platt  half  an  hour  later  in  the  public  dining- 
room.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Platt  are  very  demo- 
cratic in  their  tastes  and  simple  in  their  mode  of 
living.  They  frequently  have  members  of  their 
family  or  friends  at  dinner  with  them.  But  even 
if  they  were  alone,  Mr.  Platt  must  have  plenty  to 
think  of,  for  he  knows  that  downstairs  in  the  hotel 
lobby,  men  have  already  begun  to  collect  who  want 
to  see  him. 

As  soon  as  dinner  is  over,  he  makes  his  nightly 
appearance  in  the  corridor,  when  he  goes  for  the 
mail.  This  is  a  feature  of  the  lobby.  There  is 

543 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

no  ceremony  attending  Mr.  Platt 's  appearance. 
But  if  lie  wore  a  coronet  on  his  head,  there  would 
hardly  be  more  individuals  waiting  for  an  audi- 
ence. When  his  tall  form  comes  in  sight,  a  little 
stir  usually  goes  through  the  place.  Those  who 
have  made  appointments  reach  him  first.  They 
settle  back  into  the  first  convenient  corner  of  the 
lobby.  Mr.  Platt  doesn't  smoke  or  drink,  but 
never  objects  to  other  men  exercising  the  divine 
right  to  do  as  they  please.  Mr.  Platt  rarely 
spends  an  entire  evening  in  the  lobby.  He  fre- 
quently adjourns  to  the  Eepublican  State  Com- 
mittee Headquarters,  which  are  also  in  the  hotel, 
or,  what  is  more  frequent,  after  an  hour  in  the 
lobby  he  takes  the  elevator  to  the  fourth  floor. 
There  is  where  the  convenience  of  the  hotel  life 
comes  in,  for  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  make  a  second 
trip  to  the  lobby  if  necessary. 

Upstairs,  Mrs.  Platt  is  always  waiting  for  him, 
and  hardly  a  night  passes  but  one  of  the  sons  and 
his  wife  or  friends  in  the  hotel  call.  Mr.  Platt 
is  decidedly  fond  of  having  people  of  this  kind 
about  him.  Everybody  who  has  the  privilege  of 
admittance  to  the  Platt  home  circle  describes  the 
head  of  the  household  as  a  clever,  genial,  compan- 
ionable host.  He  has  read  widely,  and  always 
keeps  up  on  current  topics.  So  does  Mrs.  Platt. 

544 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

Both  have  traveled  extensively  and  have  the 
faculty  of  quick  observation.  Mrs.  Platt  is  a 
brilliant  conversationalist  herself,  while  Mr. 
Platt  has  a  rare  wit  of  his  own.  He  doesn't  prac- 
tice story-telling,  but  in  his  conversation  the  hu- 
morous streak  appears.  An  evening  with  the 
Platts  is  therefore  greatly  prized. 

MBS.  PLATT 'S  POLITICAL  SAGACITY 

Few  women  have  such  a  clear  comprehension  of 
practical  politics  as  Mrs.  Platt,  or  so  wide  a  knowl- 
edge of  National  and  State  public  affairs.  Na- 
turally, the  atmosphere  in  the  Platts'  home  at 
times  is  redolent  with  politics,  and  it  is  fortunate 
for  Mrs.  Platt  that  she  does  like  to  watch  the 
game.  Her  husband  does  not  intend  that  his  home 
shall  be  given  over  to  politics  entirely,  but  during 
heated  campaigns  it  is  difficult  to  keep  it  out 
altogether. 

But  it  is  as  a  business  woman  that  Mrs.  Platt 
shines  most  brightly,  and  if  she  had  been  cast  for 
one  of  the  regiment  of  bread-winners  she  would 
have  been  able  to  buy  the  best  country  butter  and 
chicken  and  jam  to  go  with  it.  However,  Mrs. 
Platt 's  business  abilities  are  not  quite  lost  to  the 
world.  She  is  a  successful  orange  grower,  with 
a  large  plantation  in  Florida.  Not  only  does  she 

545 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

watch  the  guests  about  her  disposing  of  fruit  from 
her  own  grove,  but  one  of  the  swellest  and  big- 
gest firms  of  grocers  in  New  York  takes  all  of 
her  crop  they  can  get  for  their  most  exclusive 
trade. 

It  was  just  by  chance  that  this  side  of  Mrs. 
Platt  came  to  light.  The  Platts  were  traveling 
slowly  through  Florida  in  their  private  car  some 
years  ago,  when  a  large  orange  especially  at- 
tracted Mrs.  Platt 's  admiration.  The  location  was 
beautiful,  and  the  scenery  more  attractive  than 
any  other  she  had  ever  seen.  The  grove  was  a 
fine  one  of  eighteen  acres,  and  Mrs.  Platt  became 
its  possessor.  From  that  incident  dates  her  busi- 
ness career,  and  the  investment  has  netted  a  good 
income. 

She  conducts  the  grove  herself,  and  directs  its 
daily  operations  from  this  end  almost  as  closely 
as  if  she  were  in  Florida,  where,  of  course,  there 
is  a  resident  overseer.  It  is  a  medium-sized  grove, 
and  has  made  such  progress  under  her  care  that 
it  is  now  a  show  place  in  the  locality.  There  is  a 
small  house  on  the  plantation,  and  Mrs.  Platt 
occupies  it  for  a  month  or  so,  late  in  the  winter, 
each  year,  looking  after  her  interests.  Some  of 
her  sons,  with  their  children,  generally  visit  her, 
and  when  Mr.  Platt 's  business  permits  he  con- 

546 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Platt 

trives  to  join  the  mistress  of  the  orange  grove  and 
get  a  chance  at  the  outdoor  life  himself. 

Mr.  Platt  has  a  leaning  toward  country  life. 
Four  years  ago  he  bought  a  farm  at  Highland 
Mills,  in  Orange  County,  near  the  foot  of  the  Cats- 
kills,  built  a  house  and  prepared  to  make  it  his 
summer  home.  Owing  to  Mrs.  Platt 's  health,  the 
air  was  found  to  disagree  with  her,  and  several 
years  ago  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  Eidge 
Farm,  and  it  has  since  been  sold.  Now  the  Platts 
move  down  to  the  Oriental  Hotel,  at  Manhattan 
Beach,  as  soon  as  the  weather  becomes  warm,  and 
Mr.  Platt  continues  to  go  to  the  city  every  day, 
and  is  at  his  task  summer  and  winter  by  nine 
o'clock,  in  the  president's  room  of  the  United 
States  Express  Company. 

A  CAMEKA  EXPERT 

Everybody  knows  that  Mrs.  Platt  is  an  amateur 
photographer,  although  she  has  been  using  the 
camera  so  long  that  she  slipped  out  of  the  amateur 
class  some  time  ago.  She  has  seen  many  lands 
through  the  finder  of  a  "kodak"  that  has  always 
accompanied  her.  The  Platts  have  traveled 
through  the  West  and  visited  Alaska  and  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  South  is  also  familiar  to  them, 


547 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

as  Mr.  Platt  has  large  interests  in  Tennessee  and 
Alabama. 

Mrs.  Platt  has  also  been  through  Europe,  to 
South  America,  and  even  to  Patagonia.  Owing  to 
a  stormy  passage  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan, 
they  were  compelled  to  land  in  Patagonia,  and 
Mrs.  Platt 's  only  regret  now  is  that  she  didn't 
have  a  camera  with  her  then.  However,  her  col- 
lection of  photographs  is  very  large  and  varied. 

THE  BUSINESS  MAN 

It  was  not  in  politics  alone  that  Senator  Platt 
shed  luster.  He  was  very  potent  in  the  financial 
world,  and  scored  his  great  triumph  there  in  build- 
ing up  the  United  States  Express  Company  from 
a  struggling  infant  to  a  great,  strong  and  influ- 
ential transportation  line.  The  Senator  had 
planned  to  prepare  for  these  memoirs  a  brief  his- 
tory of  the  wonderful  development  of  this  cor- 
poration under  his  administration.  Death  inter- 
vened before  he  could  complete  it.  I  am  indebted 
to  his  son,  Edward  T.  Platt,  and  to  the  Senator's 
secretary,  Mr.  Merry,  for  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  how  he  created  a  giant  from  a  mere  pigmy : 


548 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


RESUSCITATION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    EXPKESS    CO. 

Communication  between  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
of  the  United  States  and  the  territory  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  at  a  very  early  date  fol- 
lowed two  main  channels,  one  to  the  south  and 
one  to  the  north.  The  northern  route  was  through 
the  level  districts  of  the  Hudson  River,  Mohawk 
Valley  and  along  the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes; 
through  the  levels  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and 
across  the  Mississippi  Eiver,  into  the  prairies  of 
Iowa.  The  southern  route  was  compelled  to  seek 
its  outlet  over  the  mountains,  reaching  finally  the 
Ohio  Eiver  at  Pittsburg,  and  from  there  on  avail- 
ing itself  of  the  more  level  regions  of  the  Western 
States. 

The  stream  of  emigrants  and  explorers,  on  foot 
and  on  horseback,  who  passed  over  these  routes 
was  succeeded  in  time  by  the  cumbrous  freight 
wagons  of  the  pioneers,  and  they  in  time  were  suc- 
ceeded by  rude  rafts  and  flatboats,  and  ultimately 
by  steamboats  on  the  Ohio  Kiver,  and  finally  all 
of  these  were  succeeded  by  railroads.  Passing 
rapidly  over  the  intervening  time,  these  two  routes 
finally  developed  two  of  the  largest  and  most 
prominent  express  companies  of  the  present  day. 
It  was  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  railroads 

549 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

occupying  these  two  main  lines  of  travel  should 
ultimately  grow  into  two  very  large  and  strongly 
unified  and  consolidated  systems,  one  for  each 
route.  The  express  companies  alluded  to  had 
therefore  the  advantage  of  a  unity  of  interests 
from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Mississippi  Elver. 
While  these  northern  and  southern  routes  were 
developing  and  extending  their  lines,  there  was 
gradually  growing  between  them  a  series  of  in- 
termediate lines.  Prominent  among  these  lines 
was  the  Erie  Eailroad,  and  following  that  came 
the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  Eailroad, 
originally  a  local  New  Jersey  road,  afterward 
reaching  the  coal  mines  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
finally  extending  through  to  Lake  Erie.  These 
lines  having  been  developed  since  the  first  two 
routes  named,  were  also  occupied  by  the  two  sys- 
tems first  mentioned,  when  the  necessity  for  an 
express  development  arose.  In  the  lapse  of  time, 
however,  this  condition  of  affairs  was  unaccepta- 
ble, and  in  the  year  1854  the  United  States  Ex- 
press Company  came  into  existence  as  a  result 
of  the  demands  of  the  Erie  Eailroad  for  an  ex- 
press company  devoted  to  its  interests. 

The  United  States  Express  Company  was  origi- 
nally formed  by  the  turning  over  to  it  of  con- 
tracts and  rights  formerly  enjoyed  by  another 

550 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

express  company  on  the  Erie  Railroad  and  upon 
some  connections  thereof.  For  many  years  the 
United  States  Express  Company  was  made  up 
of  the  lines  of  the  older  companies,  which  they 
were  compelled  to  relinquish  for  various  reasons. 
At  the  beginning  of  its  existence,  and  for  some 
time  afterward,  the  mileage  of  the  United  States 
Express  Company  did  not  exceed  3,000  miles,  and 
this  was  only  partly  railroad  mileage,  the  other 
part  being  mileage  on  the  northern  lakes.  How- 
ever, by  the  year  1860  this  mileage  had  increased 
to  3,948  miles  of  railroad;  990  miles  of  water 
lines;  and  672  miles  of  stage  lines — altogether 
5,610  miles.  As  an  illustration  of  the  size  of  the 
railroads,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  what  is  known 
as  the  Rock  Island  System,  which  covers  to-day 
about  15,000  miles,  was  at  that  time  known  as  the 
Chicago  and  Rock  Island  Railroad,  and  was  183 
miles  long.  The  Great  Lake  Shore  System  of  to- 
day was  at  that  time  about  500  miles  in  extent. 

HOW    THE    INFANT    GREW 

During  all  these  years  and  up  to  the  time  that 
Thomas  C.  Platt  was  elected  president,  the  com- 
pany had  existed  by  sufferance  of  the  two  great 
systems  heretofore  alluded  to. 

Mr.  Platt  was  elected  a  director  and  secretary 
551 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

of  the  company  on  August  1,  1879,  and  in  1880 
was  elected  president.  From  that  time  on  a  new 
era  dawned  for  the  United  States  Express  Com- 
pany. While  Senator  Platt  had  a  very  wholesome 
regard  for  the  strength  of  his  progenitors  and 
active  rivals,  he  was  merely  mastering  the  situa- 
tion and  preparing  himself  for  the  future.  At  the 
time  of  Mr.  Platt 's  accession  to  office,  the  mileage 
of  the  company  had  grown  from  5,610  miles  to 
about  14,000  miles.  This  was  indeed  a  fine  king- 
dom to  occupy.  No  occasion  arose,  however,  to 
display  Mr.  Platt 's  business  sagacity  and  his  un- 
flinching determination  to  protect  the  interests 
of  his  company  until  it  was  forced  by  the  extreme 
demands  of  the  Erie  Eailroad  to  leave  that  line. 
It  was  confidently  expected,  as  a  consequence  of 
this  disaster,  that  the  United  States  Express  Com- 
pany would  rapidly  disintegrate,  because  it  had 
no  means  whatever  of  reaching  Buffalo,  the  north- 
ern routes  or  outlets  to  the  West  being  occupied 
by  the  two  great  companies  first  referred  to:  the 
middle  outlet,  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and 
Western  Eailroad,  being  occupied  by  the  Westcott 
Express  Company. 

Much  to  the  consternation  of  the  then  existing 
management  of  the  Erie  Eailroad,  which  believed 
that  it  had  forced  the  United  States  Express  Com- 

552 


The  Autobiography   of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

pany  into  a  corner  from  which  it  could  not  escape 
except  by  the  payment  of  a  most  exorbitant  sum 
of  money,  Senator  Platt,  in  the  quietest  manner 
possible,  secured  the  lines  of  the  Delaware,  Lacka- 
wanna  and  Western  Eailroad  Company,  thus  ex- 
tricating his  company  from  a  position  which 
threatened  its  existence  and  placing  it  in  a  vastly 
stronger  position  than  it  had  previously  occupied. 
Later,  Senator  Platt  showed  his  business  insight 
and  his  ability  of  quick  and  accurate  judgment 
by  the  acquisition  of  the  express  facilities  of  the 
lines  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Eailway.  It  was 
confidently  believed,  and,  in  fact,  the  most  boast- 
ful assertions  were  made,  that  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  must  inevitably  fall  into  the  hands  of  one 
of  the  older  companies  occupying  the  southern 
lines,  it  being  considered  merely  a  question  of 
time  when  that  company  would  again  operate  the 
lines  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Eailway. 

PEOTECTED  HIS  OWN 

Senator  Platt,  seeing  the  vast  value  of  these 
lines  to  his  own  company,  however,  pursued  with 
diligence  and  sagacity  negotiations  which  led  to 
their  acquisition  by  the  United  States  Express 
Company  in  the  year  1887.  These  two  occurrences 
of  such  vast  importance  dispelled  the  idea  that 

553 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  United  States  Express  Company  any  longer 
based  its  existence  upon  the  sufferance  of  its 
rivals.  And  while  it,  under  Senator  Platt's  guid- 
ance, always  maintained  reasonable  and  friendly 
business  relations  with  its  competitors,  and  strove 
to  socure  and  retain  their  respect,  it,  on  the  other 
hand,  pursued  an  unflinching  policy  of  protection 
to  its  own  interests  and  the  expansion  of  its  own 
lines. 

In  the  early  eighties,  when  the  Eock  Island  Sys- 
tem had  expanded  so  much  that  its  lines  were 
reaching  toward  the  Eocky  Mountains,  the  de- 
mand was  made  that  the  United  States  Express 
Company  should  not  occupy  any  part  of  the  Eock 
Island  System  west  of  the  Missouri  Eiver. 
Senator  Platt,  however,  unhesitatingly  availed 
himself  of  the  desire  of  the  Eock  Island  Company 
that  but  one  express  company  should  operate  its 
lines,  and  consequently  followed  the  Eock  Island 
through  to  the  Eocky  Mountains  at  Denver  and 
occupied  all  of  its  subsequent  extensions.  As 
a  consequence  of  this  far-sighted  policy,  this  year 
(1910)  the  United  States  Express  Company  will 
not  only  occupy  the  Eock  Island,  but  the  St.  Louis 
and  San  Francisco  systems  as  well,  thus  bringing 
them  under  one  control  and  adding  a  stretch  of 
about  10,000  miles  to  its  present  territory. 

554 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 


THE  PIGMY  BECOMES  A  GIANT 

If  Senator  Platt  was  not  conspicuous  for  his 
modesty  and  silence,  but  for  the  opposite  qualities, 
he  would  undoubtedly  enjoy  more  fame,  not  as  a 
politician,  nor  as  a  law-maker,  but  as  a  business 
man,  as  a  founder,  as  a  promoter  and  as  a  pro- 
tector of  great  business  enterprises.  His  abili- 
ties in  that  direction,  however,  are  known  only  to 
his  most  intimate  friends,  and  they  recognized  his 
remarkable  powers  of  judgment  and  his  intuitive 
faculty  of  deciding  upon  the  best  thing  at  the  best 
time. 

There  have  been  but  three  presidents  of  the 
United  States  Express  Compny.  While  both  of 
the  predecessors  of  Senator  Platt  were  most  hon- 
orable and  estimable  gentlemen  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  it  may  be  said  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction that  had  their  successor  been  a  man  of 
the  same  stamp,  the  United  States  Express  Com- 
pany, had  it  not  been  put  out  of  existence,  would 
have  remained  as  it  always  had  been,  a  mere 
creature  of  sufferance.  Under  Platt 's  direction 
the  company  has  grown  in  mileage  from  about  14,- 
000  to  approximately  30,000  miles,  or  consider- 
ably more  than  doubled  itself. 

The  influence  of  President  Platt,  however,  upon 
555 


The  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait 

the  United  States  Express  Company  has  been  so 
strong  and  the  impress  of  his  actions  so  durable 
that  even  a  casual  inspection  of  the  history  of  the 
company  suffices  to  show  that  the  present  position 
of  the  company  is  due  to  the  initial  ability  and 
fidelity  of  the  gentleman  who  is  the  subject  of 
this  work. 

Louis  J.  LANG. 


556 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below 


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